Two dead in Swedish train crash

Two carriages were derailed

Two people have been killed and more than 30 injured, some seriously, in a train crash in southern Sweden.

The accident happened when a passenger train collided with a lorry on a railway crossing near the south-eastern coastal town of Kristianstad.

Two carriages were derailed and the lorry was destroyed.

Rescuers were trying to free people trapped in the wreckage in what is believed to be the worst such accident in Sweden for about 20 years.

Swedish radio quoted witnesses as saying the lorry appeared to make a late run for the crossing as the barrier descended.

Police could not confirm that version of events.

"This is definitely the biggest train accident in Sweden for at least two decades," said Per Olof Apel, spokesman at Banverket, which runs the railway infrastructure.

The train was believed to be carrying about 80 passengers at the time of the crash.

It had left the town of Karlskrona early on Friday morning.

The crash happened shortly after 0900 (0700 GMT) not far from the train's destination, Kristianstad.