Tehran. Suleyman Farzaliyev-APA. The death toll rose to 44 people, more than 100 people were injured in a collision of passenger trains in the Iranian province of Semnan, APA’s correspondent in Tehran reports.
According to the head of the management of the railways of Iran Mohsen Purseidagayi the accident occurred on fault of dispatcher. The train stopped in connection with malfunctions in the brake system, crashed into another train.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has expressed condolences to the relatives of the victims.
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20:29
Baku-APA. At least 40 people were killed and 100 injured when one Iranian passenger train collided with another at a station about 150 miles (250 km) east of the capital Tehran, and the death toll is likely to rise, APA reports quoting Reuters.
President Hassan Rouhani ordered an acceleration of rescue efforts as well as an investigation into the cause of the deadly crash in the northern province of Semnan.
Video footage showed four derailed carriages, two of them on fire. A spokesman for Iran's Red Crescent, Mostafa Mortazavi, told the semi-official Fars news agency that firefighters were trying to control the blaze.
"I was sleeping when the crash happened. I thought it was an air strike ... When I opened my eyes, there was blood everywhere," a hospitalized passenger said.
Fars quoted Semnan provincial governor Mohammad Reza Khabbaz as saying the death toll was expected to increase. The governor of Tabriz told the semi-official Tasnim news agency that the moving train had 400 passengers on board. It was not clear how many passengers had been on the second train. Fars had earlier said 100 had been rescued.
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15:53
Baku – APA. At least 31 people were killed on Friday when two passenger trains collided in Iran's north-central province of Semnan and the death toll is likely to rise, the provincial governor said
Seven carriages caught fire, and the dead are hard to be identified.
Some media outlets report that the death toll has reached 40, and 98 people have been reportedly injured.
Abbas Akhoundi, Iran Minister of Roads and Urban Development has postponed his visit to Turkmenistan and arrived in the scene.
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14:15
Baku – APA. Two passenger trains collided in Iran's north-central province of Semnan on early Friday, killing at least 15 people and injuring dozens, Iranian media reported, saying the number of fatalities and casualties expected to rise, Reuters reported.
"At least 15 people were killed and over 20 others have been injured in the crash," the semi-official Mehr news agency quoted head of Iran's Red Crescent Ali Asghar Ahmadi as saying.
Iranian media gave contradictory reports on the death toll and number of injured passengers in the crash. The semi-official Fars news agency said 52 people were injured, who were transferred to nearby hospitals.
Reports gave no details on the number of passengers in the trains. But Fars said 100 passengers had been rescued.
State television showed footage of four derailed carriages, with two of them on fire. A spokesman for Iran's Red Crescent, Mostafa Mortazavi, told Fars that firefighters were trying to control the blaze.
"The accident happened when a passenger train in motion crashed to another one that had stopped at the station," it said.
The cause of the collision was under investigation, it said, adding that rescue teams have been dispatched to the site of accident.
"We can have a better idea about number of casualties after the fire is put out," Ahmadi said, Mehr reported.
The crash occurred at the Haft-Khan station in the city of Shahroud, about 400 kilometers (250 miles) east of Tehran.
A local official told state TV that the remote location of the train station had slowed down rescue efforts.
"So far only one helicopter has reached the scene because of access difficulties," said local head of the Red Crescent Hasan Shokrollahi.
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13:53
Baku – APA. Five people were killed and fourteen others were injured in a train collision on Friday morning at Haftkhan station in Iran’s Semnan province on Friday morning, IRNA cited the spokesman of the Relief and Rescue Organization Mostafa Mortazavi as saying.
Due to the thick frost, the rescue teams have difficulties to get there, he said adding that one chopper has been sent to the scene of the accident.
The exact number of casualties will be declared soon, he said.
14 rescue teams have been sent to the place of collision to help people, according to the official.
Director General of the South-East Rail Road Hamid Darbagh Anbaran said earlier on Friday that a number of wagons of the train which collided into another one in this province that is located 216 kms east of Tehran in north central Iran on Friday are still in fire.
The train was heading to Mashhad in northeast of the country from the city of Tabriz in northwest province of East Azarbaijan when it collided into another one destined to Mashhad from Semnan which was stationed at Haftkhan station on Friday morning, he said.
He said rescue teams are now rendering medical care to the injured passengers.
Technical causes of the accident is not clear yet but expert teams are examining the issue, he said.
Number of casualties reportedly exceeds 60 people.
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