Six killed, 20 injured in Croatia train crash

Zagreb — A train derailed in Croatia on Friday, killing six people and injuring 20 on a route linking the capital and the central coastal town of Split, police said.

The crash occurred near the town of Kastel Stari, outside Split, at 12:08 pm local time when the tilting train designed for faster travel on regular tracks flew off the rails, according to authorities.

"According to current information, six people have been killed and more than 20 were injured. We don’t know about the nature of their injuries," police spokeswoman Marina Kraljevic Gudelj told national radio.

Croatian Railways (HZ) had earlier confirmed the accident but could not immediately give the number of victims.

"Unfortunately there are casualties," HZ chief Zoran Popovac told national television without elaborating.

Croatian national television said there were some 90 passengers travelling on board the train at the time of the accident.

The broadcaster showed footage of the derailed train on the side of rocky slopes surrounded by rescue teams working to ferry casualties away on helicopters and buses.

Paramedics and fire-fighters were at the scene, though the rough terrain made it difficult for them to approach the site of the accident, the television report said.

All the injured who were extracted from the train were rushed to the main hospital in Split, located around 400 kilometres (248 miles) south of the capital Zagreb.

The transport ministry also declined to provide any details on the number of casualties in the accident.

Friday’s accident happened at the same location where a train derailed last year, although that accident caused no casualties.

It is the worst rail disaster in Croatia since 1974, when 152 people were killed in a train that lost control while travelling at high speed on the approach to Zagreb’s central railway station, according to the reports.

AFP/Expatica