18 killed in Belgian train collision

Share

A rush-hour commuter train sped through a red signal and slammed into an oncoming train as it left a suburban Brussels station on Monday, killing at least 18 people and disrupting rail traffic in northern Europe.

Investigations into one the worst accidents on the Belgian rails were likely to focus on whether human error was responsible or if it could have been influenced by the persistently freezing temperatures that have iced up the European capital.

40 hurt as US plane skids off runway in Jamaica

Officials said 80 people were injured, 20 of them seriously, and the death toll - 15 men and three women - was not considered final. As darkness fell more than 10 hours later, rescuers were still looking for victims in the wreckage, said Jos Colpin, the spokesman for the federal prosecutor's office.

Text & Images: AP

Image: Rescue workers walk along the wreckage of two commuter trains in Buizingen, Belgium on February 15, 2010.