Two trains running on the same track collided head-on in southern Poland in a shower of sparks, killing 16 people and injuring 58 in the country's worst train disaster in more than 20 years.
The crash near Krakow turned cars at the front of each train into heaps of mangled metal and toppled others on their sides. Neighbors in the town of Szczechociny alerted by what they said sounded like a bomb rushed to the scene to smash open windows, and survivors emerged in a state of shock, many crying out for help and carrying baggage.
Rescuers worked through the night to recover bodies and help the wounded.
One of the trains was on the wrong track. Maintenance work was being done on the tracks before the accident, but officials said it's too early to determine the cause of the disaster.
A woman living in a house about 200 meters (yards) from the site of the accident said she was standing at her window when the two trains collided, creating a "terrible, terrible noise — like a bomb going off."- The U.S. consulate in Krakow said an American woman was among the dead and her family had been informed. Spokesman Benjamin Ousley said he could give no more information and that Polish authorities would release further details at a later point.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk (left photo) earlier had said that several of the passengers were foreigners, including people from Ukraine, Spain and France, but none of them were among the dead or mostly seriously injured.President Bronislaw Komorowski visited the site Sunday, saying that when rescue efforts are over he would make an announcement about a period of national mourning.
The trains could hold up to 350 people but it's not clear how many were actually on board.
Source: AP
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