Investigators say damaged ties caused German derailment that killed 5

BERLIN (AP) — Investigators say a train derailment a year ago in the German Alps that left five people dead was caused primarily by damaged concrete ties on the track. The double-deck regional train derailed on June 3, 2022, shortly after leaving the Alpine resort town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen for Munich. A 13-year-old boy and four women, including two refugees from Ukraine, were killed. More than 70 people were injured, 16 of them seriously. Germany’s federal agency for rail accident investigations said in a preliminary report Thursday that damage to concrete ties used on the line where the accident happened appears to have led to the structure failing and to supports that attach the rails to the ties breaking away, causing the derailment.