The Munich public prosecutor's office on Tuesday said it had launched an investigation into three people on suspicion of involuntary manslaughter over a deadly train accident in the German state of Bavaria.

Five people died when the regional train derailed on Friday, with more than 40 others injured. According to the police, a 34-year-old woman is still in a life-threatening condition.

What's the latest in the investigation?

A spokeswoman for the office said the three were employees of German national train operator Deutsche Bahn. 

Police said the investigation was still at too early a stage to give further details of the accusations against the three employees.

The train had been on its way from the Alpine resort of Garmisch-Partenkirchen to the Bavarian capital, Munich.

Four women, two of them mothers from Ukraine who had fled the Russian war with their children, and a 14-year-old boy from the region died.

A rail task force is investigating the cause of the accident with the Federal Bureau of Railway Accidents Investigation also involved. Deutsche Bahn has said it is supporting the investigation, but that it is unable to comment further.

A report by Germany's Die Welt newspaper on Monday said the company has been planning rail repairs on the track section in question. The planned work between Oberau and Garmisch-Partenkirchen included the accident site in Burgrain, it said. 

rc/fb (AFP, dpa)