Up to 25 dead after head-on train collision in Brussels

Two commuter trains collided head-on at rush hour in a Brussels suburb Monday, killing as many as 25 people, Belgian rail officials said. Other officials said the death toll was lower, RIA Novosti reported.

Belgian National Railways told the VRT radio network that 25 people had died, while the suburb's mayor said the death toll was 20. The governor of the province of Flemish Brabant, meanwhile, told VRT that 10 people were killed. The trains collided in light snow just outside of the station at Buizingen around 8:30 a.m. (0730GMT). The force of the collision smashed one train deep into the front of the other, peeling back the metal sides. The trains tipped high into the air and broke overhead power lines.

One survivor said she heard a major "explosion" when the two trains collided.

Rescuers were forced to pull the wounded from a car that appeared to have tipped onto its side. Other emergency officials rushed victims on stretchers along the tracks.

There was no immediate word on the number of injured but the seriously hurt were taken to hospitals and the lightly injured were moved to a Buizingen sports complex.

The crash caused massive damage to overhead power lines.
Eurostar reported on its website that its high-speed trains had suspended service in and out of Brussels and could remain shut down all day.

The international high-speed network Thalys, which links major cities in Belgium, France, Germany and the Netherlands, temporarily halted all traffic because its trains use the same rails as commuter lines near Hal, said a company spokeswoman. It was the most serious Belgian train accident since March 28, 2001, when eight people died when a crowded train hit an empty train driving on the wrong tracks.