BERLIN, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- A fire which broke out on a German high-speed ICE train caused severe disruptions to railway passengers on the popular Cologne-Frankfurt line on Friday.
The German National Railway Company told press that the fire broke out on Friday morning towards the rear end of an ICE train while it was traveling near the town of Dierdorf.
Emergency forces evacuated 510 passengers from the train before one carriage burnt out entirely. No fatalities or serious injuries have been recorded so far.
The high-speed connection between the two major cities of Cologne and Frankfurt has been closed until further notice.
Additionally, the nearby and heavily-used "A3" highway was temporarily shut down in both directions due to large clouds of smoke and efforts by firefighters to put out the flames. A helicopter has been deployed to "gain an overview over the damage site".
It remained unclear to the National Railway Company and Federal Police at the time of writing what had caused the fire. Having been brought to a community center near the site of the incident, passengers on board the train are scheduled to be questioned about the issue by authorities in the course of the next days.
The National Railway Company told passengers travelling between Cologne and Frankfurt to expect further cancellations and severe delays.
Repair and clearance operations made necessary by the fire were likely to continue throughout the rest of Friday as the company sought to assess the extent of damage caused to rail infrastructure.
The train in question has been ceased in police as part of ongoing investigations into the matter.
