This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jun/06/belgium-train-crash-dead-injured-passenger-freight

The article has changed 6 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 4 Version 5
Train crash in Belgium leaves three dead and dozens injured Train crash in Belgium leaves three dead and nine injured
(about 2 hours later)
A passenger train travelling at high speed has crashed into the back of a freight train in the eastern Belgian municipality of Saint-Georges-Sur-Meuse, killing three people and injuring dozens. At least three people have been killed and nine injured in a high-speed train crash in eastern Belgium.
“A train... carrying around 40 passengers crashed into the back of a freight train on the same track,” Belgian railways SNCB said in a statement. “The collision derailed two of the six carriages.” A fast-moving passenger train slammed into the back of a goods train on the same track on Sunday night, Frédéric Sacré, a spokesman for Belgian railway infrastructure manager Infrabel, said.
Françis Dejon, the mayor of the Saint-Georges-Sur-Meuse district told Belga news agency three people were dead and 40 injured in the crash, according to a preliminary estimate. He said the impact of the crash was “very violent”. Nine passengers were injured to varying degrees, with some described as being in a critical condition by authorities during a press briefing near the crash scene.
The accident occurred on the line linking Namur and Liege in the east of the country. The train was travelling eastwards on the Namur-Liège line when the accident occurred in Saint-Georges-sur-Meuse area at 11pm local time (9pm GMT).
Local emergency services and reinforcements from Liege were at the site of the crash. “The passenger train is really in a bad way, it’s stunning,” said Francis Dejon, mayor of Saint-Georges-sur-Meuse. “The front carriage is scrunched back up on itself. We were very lucky not to have more victims,” he told the Belga news agency.
Frederic Sacre, spokesman for Belgian railway infrastructure manager Infrabel, said the crash took place when the passenger train was travelling at high speed. “Two of the six carriages derailed and are lying on the tracks,” Infrabel and the National Railway Company of Belgium (SNCB) said in a joint statement.
RTL broadcasting said the passenger train carrying about 40 people had been traveling at 55mph (90kph) when it hit the freight train shortly after 11pm. The front carriage was completely turned on its side, an AFP photographer at the scene said.
The front carriage was completely turned on its side, witnesses said, and several passengers had to be extracted from the wreckage. Belga said the collision had been “very violent”, adding that fire and police services had been despatched from Liėge, with several passengers having to be extracted from the wreckage.
A person who had been on board described the scene as “chaos” to the local daily newspaper L’Avenir, saying that the front two carriages had been destroyed. A passenger on board described the scene as “chaos” to the local daily newspaper L’Avenir, saying the front two carriages had been destroyed.
The crash took place around one hour before midnight on Sunday, the Belgian railways statement said. The accident’s circumstances were not immediately clear, with questions remaining over whether the passenger train was able to brake before the crash.
The circumstances of the accident were not immediately clear, with questions remaining over whether the passenger train was able to brake before the crash.
“The priority is to care for the victims,” Infrabel and SNCB said, but added that information was already being analysed to determine how the crash took place.“The priority is to care for the victims,” Infrabel and SNCB said, but added that information was already being analysed to determine how the crash took place.
A crisis centre was set up at the scene of the accident. A crisis centre was establiched at the scene.
By 2am, all passengers had been freed from the wrecked cars, RTL said. Some of the survivors were taken to a nearby abbey. Others were reportedly transported to a local sports center, where they were being offered psychological counselling. In February 2010, 18 people were killed and 95 injured when two trains collided in a Brussels suburb in one of Europe’s deadliest railway accidents of the past decade.
More recently, one person was killed and nearly 50 injured when a train carrying highly toxic chemicals derailed and exploded near Ghent in May 2013.
Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse contributed to this report