The accident happened at around 3:30 a.m. on Tuesday night near the village of Voorschoten, which lies between The Hague and Amsterdam.
A passenger train with about 50 people on board hit construction equipment, according to emergency services.
The man who died in the crash was employed by construction company BAM, which owned the equipment that collided with the train, wrote Dutch broadcaster NOS. Work was carried out on the railroad near the accident site.
The leading carriage derailed and ended up in a field, the ANP news agency reported. Another wagon was left on its side, and a fire broke out in the rear carriage. The fire finally went out.
TABARA: Emergency crews work on the scene after the train derailed in Voorschoten. Photo: Josh Walet/ANP/AFP
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Trains between Leiden and parts of The Hague have been canceled because of the accident, and there will be no trains between the cities for several days, NOS wrote.
Public prosecutors have launched an investigation into the crash, it was announced at a news conference on Tuesday morning.
Treated on the spot
– A terrible train accident near Voorschoten, in which sadly one person died and many people were injured, writes Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte Twitter. Rutte further wrote that his thoughts go out to the next of kin and all the victims.
MAJOR DAMAGE: A fire occurred in at least one train car after the collision. Photo: Kyrlian De Bot/via REUTERS
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A spokesman for the fire service said that 19 people had been taken to hospital, while others were being treated on the spot. Some receive treatment at the homes of people who live nearby.
Several ambulances and helicopters have been used to transport seriously injured passengers to hospitals.
– We heard a loud bang, and suddenly the lights went out, a man who was on the train told Omroep West TV.
He said the passengers initially did not get off the train because the power went out.
More accidents
The Netherlands has been affected by several train accidents in recent years. One person was killed and six others injured when a train collided with a hydraulic crane in Dalfsen in the west of the country in 2016.
In April 2012, one person died, while 117 others were injured, in a train accident not far from Amsterdam.
The worst train disaster in the Netherlands occurred on January 8, 1962, when two passenger trains collided near the center of Utrecht. 93 people died and 52 were injured.
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