Belgian train crash toll 'may rise'

Rescue workers continue to search for a missing child

The death toll after two trains collided near the Belgian capital Brussels was expected to rise as emergency services cut into the wreckage to search for more bodies or survivors.

Emergency phone number

00 32 2 525 45 45

The trains smashed into each other head-on Tuesday morning head-on in the village of Pecrot, about 16 miles (26km) east of the capital

Eight bodies have already been recovered from the mangled train wreckage on the stretch of line linking Leuven and Ottignies.

As darkness fell, a child was still missing.

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Nine people were injured in the accident and many had to be cut from the wreckage.

An inquiry into the accident has began. Belgian railway officials said the driver of an empty two-car train went through a red signal and ploughed into a southbound passenger train carrying about 30 people.

We saw he was on the wrong track

Railway spokesman

Signal operators spotted the train speeding on the wrong line at 95kph (55mph) and frantically tried to prevent the collision.

''We saw he was on the wrong track,'' said rail spokesman, Paul van Alst. ''Signal operators cut the power off the line but the move came too late.''

Cutting power to the line would have automatically triggered emergency brakes on both trains, but there was not enough time for them to stop safely.

The area around the crash site was sealed off while emergency services continued their work on the wreckage.

'Fighting to escape'

The accident happened at 0845 local time (0645 GMT).

A crisis centre was set up to help those on board

Some of the four carriages of the southbound passenger train were crushed as the empty train ploughed into them; others were sent catapulting into the air, coming to rest on top of each other.

A teenage passenger who survived the collision described how people had fought to escape.

"A woman was crying and people were trying to break the windows from the inside to get out," he said.

Frantic warnings

"I was busy preparing my plants for spring planting when I heard a huge boom, a deafening noise," said Jose Diaz, whose house is located just below the tracks near the point of the collision.

"I went outside and I saw what looked like a mountain rising up before my eyes."

Railway officials said the empty train was being driven towards Leuven on the wrong track, after failing to stop at a red light.

European rail crashes

Feb 2001: 10 die in Selby, UK

Oct 2000: Four die in Hatfield, UK

Feb 2000: Nine die in Bruehl, Germany

April 2000: Driver dies in Charleroi, Belgium

January 2000: 19 die in Oslo, Norway

Oct 1999: 31 killed near London, UK

June 98: More than 100 die in Eschede, Germany

The carriages were left so mangled by the force of the collision that rescue workers had to bring in cranes to try to separate them.

An emergency centre has been set up in the nearby town of Wavres to help co-ordinate the rescue operation.

Belgian Transport Minister Isabelle Durand went to the scene of the crash, where she expressed her "solidarity with the families of the victims".

King Albert II and Queen Paola and several members of the Belgian Government also visited the accident scene.

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