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U.S. Army Truck in Trailer Caught in Deadly Rail Crash in Germany

Two people were killed after a commuter train collided with a semi-trailer transporting a U.S. military vehicle in Germany, officials said.
Image: Firefighters look for the train driver
Firefighters look for the train driver of a regional passenger train that collided with a heavy-duty lorry at a railway crossing near the Bavarian village of Freihung.MICHAELA REHLE / Reuters

Two people were killed after a commuter train collided with a semi-trailer transporting a U.S. military vehicle in Germany, officials said.

The train hit the truck late Thursday at a railway crossing near the Bavarian town of Freihung, around 10 miles from the U.S. Army's Tower Barracks in Grafenwoehr.

Image: Firefighters look for the train driver
Firefighters look for the train driver of a regional passenger train that collided with a heavy-duty lorry at a railway crossing near the Bavarian village of Freihung.MICHAELA REHLE / Reuters

The 30-year-old truck driver was killed and another body was found in the train-driver's cab, German police told Reuters. Sixteen passengers were injured, four of them hospitalized, according to the news agency.

There were no U.S. military personnel on site, and despite "significant damage" to the train and transport truck, there was only "minimal damage" to the U.S. vehicle, according to a statement from the U.S. Army in Europe.

The military vehicle being transported was a five-ton truck known as a FMTV, Christian Marquardt, spokesman with the U.S. Army in Europe, told NBC News.

"We offer our sincere condolences to the families of those affected by this tragedy," the U.S. Army statement said. "The incident is under investigation and we will assist the German authorities who are in control of the scene."