A 13-year-old climbed onto a wagon at a freight station in Schwerte (Unna district) and was fatally injured by an electric shock. The teenager was taken to a special clinic with burns on his body, a police spokesman said. Accordingly, the 13-year-old had played with his sister on the premises of the freight station on Monday evening. There he climbed onto the parked freight car and was electrocuted.
According to the spokesman, it was initially unclear whether he touched the overhead line. But even without direct contact, the current could jump the air and reach the ground in an arc via the body, the federal police had warned in the past.
The 13-year-old fell from the wagon into a gravel bed, said the police spokesman. A railway employee discovered him there. The sister and mother were taken to a hospital in shock.
As early as Sunday evening, a 13-year-old climbed onto a construction site train in Langenhagen (Hanover region) and was fatally injured by an electric shock of 15,000 volts. He was taken to a hospital on Monday night with severe burns on his body.