BT.com :
A train collision in northern Iran has killed at least 36 people and injured about 95, state TV reported.
The report said the accident happened in sub-zero temperatures when a passenger train hit another one which had stopped at a station about 150 miles east of the capital Tehran.
The report said four of the fatalities were railway employees who were on the two trains when the accident happened near the city of Semnan. The TV said four carriages derailed and two caught fire, and showed footage of rescue
teams working near burning train carriages. The casualties were taken to nearby hospitals. Provincial governor Mohammad Reza Khabbaz said the cause of the accident was under investigation and that the parked train was apparently not inside the station but on a main rail line at the time of the collision.
The TV report said 95 people who were injured in the collision were all in hospital. Many of them only suffered minor injuries. Helicopters and ambulances were sent to join the rescue operation.
Iran reports about 17,000 deaths on average in traffic accidents every year. The high rate is mostly blamed on drivers disregarding traffic laws, old vehicles and inadequate emergency services.
Years of punitive international sanctions against Tehran over its controversial nuclear programme have also badly affected Iran’s infrastructure, including road and railway networks.
A train collision in northern Iran has killed at least 36 people and injured about 95, state TV reported.
The report said the accident happened in sub-zero temperatures when a passenger train hit another one which had stopped at a station about 150 miles east of the capital Tehran.
The report said four of the fatalities were railway employees who were on the two trains when the accident happened near the city of Semnan. The TV said four carriages derailed and two caught fire, and showed footage of rescue
teams working near burning train carriages. The casualties were taken to nearby hospitals. Provincial governor Mohammad Reza Khabbaz said the cause of the accident was under investigation and that the parked train was apparently not inside the station but on a main rail line at the time of the collision.
The TV report said 95 people who were injured in the collision were all in hospital. Many of them only suffered minor injuries. Helicopters and ambulances were sent to join the rescue operation.
Iran reports about 17,000 deaths on average in traffic accidents every year. The high rate is mostly blamed on drivers disregarding traffic laws, old vehicles and inadequate emergency services.
Years of punitive international sanctions against Tehran over its controversial nuclear programme have also badly affected Iran’s infrastructure, including road and railway networks.
