Seven killed, at least 180 injured in Israeli train crash

ISRAEL - A passenger train crashed into a truck in central Israel, killing at least seven people and injuring over 180 in the country's worst rail accident for a decade, rescue workers said.

Passengers were thrown dozens of metres from carriages and others were trapped in the wreckage when the train from the northern city of Haifa to southern Beersheba hit the truck at a dirt road crossing in farmland near Kibbutz Revadim.

An official of the Magen David Adom ambulance service said at least seven people were killed in the crash.

Blood-covered passengers were carried from the wreckage in scenes reminiscent of attacks in over 4-1/2 years of a Palestinian uprising. Survivors reassured loved ones by mobile phone from stretchers in the sunflower field where the train crashed.

"The entire train shook when the truck hit the carriage. Everyone dropped to the ground. There was flying glass. I was in a carriage that was badly hit but most people on it were unhurt," one passenger, Dafna, told Channel Two television.

"There was complete mayhem," said another passenger.

Rescue workers said more than 180 people were injured, at least a dozen seriously. Sniffer dogs worked under searchlights to ensure no more passengers were trapped in the wreckage. Army helicopters whirred in to pick up the worst injured.

The train hit a truck loaded with sand for construction of a nearby freeway as it attempted to cross the track, rescuers said. Most of the victims were in the first carriage to hit the truck which was torn apart from the impact.

The truck driver's body was found lying near the wreckage, rescue officials said.

Transport officials announced they were establishing a committee of inquiry to investigate the crash. Train crashes are rare in Israel which has recently begun to expand its railway network in an effort to reduce traffic congestion.

In 1985, 22 children from the town of Petah Tikva were killed in Israel's worst rail accident. Their school bus collided with a train in northern Israel.

- REUTERS