The accident occurred near the Alpine ski resort town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen.
ADVERTISEMENTAt least five people have died and several others are injured after a regional train derailed in the southern German region of Bavaria.
The train was headed for Munich when it came off the tracks at around 12:15 CEST on Saturday in Burgrain, near the Alpine ski resort town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen.
Images from the scene show that some double-deck carriages overturned and had rolled down the embankment onto their side.
Around 140 people were on board at the time, including children heading home from school on the last day before the holidays.
Police in Garmisch-Partenkirchen initially said that four people were killed and more than 30 others had been injured, including around 15 seriously. Emergency workers later confirmed that the body of a fifth victim had been found under the rubble of the train.
The victims have been identified as a 14-year-old boy and four women — two of them refugees from Ukraine -- according to Germany's DPA news agency.
German prosecutors later confirmed that three Deutsche Bahn railway workers were under investigation on suspicion of involuntary manslaughter.
Interior Minister Nancy Faeser had travelled to the scene of the "terrible accident", a ministry spokesman said.
The railway line between Garmisch-Partenkirchen and Oberau, north of the accident site, was closed.
The most recent fatal rail accident occurred in February 2022 when one person was killed and 14 injured in a collision between two local trains near Munich.