Story By:  Ana Marjanovic, Sub-Editor: Michael Leidig, Agency:  Newsflash

Three railway employees are being investigated for negligent homicide after five passengers lost their lives when a train derailed.

Criminal prosecutors are targeting the train’s driver, the route plotter and the train dispatcher following the tragedy near the Alpine ski resort of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, in the southern German state of Bavaria, which took place on Friday, 3rd June.

Strict local privacy laws mean the three cannot be named.

Five passengers died when the Munich-bound train left the tracks soon after pulling out of a station.

Four women and one teenager, reportedly 13 years old, died.

Tragically, two of the women were reportedly a 30-year-old and a 39-year-old, both mothers fleeing the war in Ukraine with their children.

The other two female victims were a 51-year-old from Wiesbaden and a 70-year-old woman from Munich. None of the victims have been named.

More than 40 people were injured in the crash.

According to the police, a severely injured 34-year-old woman is still in a life-threatening condition.

Andrea Grape, a spokesperson for the Munich prosecutor’s office, stressed that the investigation is so far only “an initial suspicion”.

Police said it is too early to give further details of any case against the three rail workers, employees of Germany’s national rail service Deutsche Bahn.

Grape explained: “As always in such cases, the presumption of innocence applies here until the final conclusion of the proceedings.”

She added: “The cause of the accident is under investigation.”

A rail task force made up of over 40 investigators is reportedly investigating the cause of the accident.

The Federal Bureau of Railway Accident Investigations is also involved.

It was reported on Monday that Deutsche Bahn had been planning to carry out renovation work on the tracks where the accident took place.

Deutsche Bahn has reportedly said it is supporting the investigation but that it is unable to comment further.