Train Crash in Belgium Kills at Least Eight

Train Crash in Belgium

---

A crowded commuter train slammed head on into an empty locomotive in central Belgium on Tuesday, killing at least eight people and seriously injuring at least eight.

The death toll was expected to rise as workers cut into the carriages that were turned into a pile of twisted metal. News reports put the death toll as high as 12.

One of the trains was empty and the other was crowded with rush-hour passengers when they collided near the village of Pecrot, said Leen Uyterhoeven, spokeswoman for the national SNCB-NMBS rail company.

The accident occurred at 8:45 a.m. about 16 miles east of Brussels on the line between the university towns of Leuven and Louvain-la-Neuve.

The injured with ferried to several local hospitals. Uyterhoeven said at least eight were seriously hurt.

Two hours after the crash, rescue workers where still trying to cut into carriages. The four carriages of the southbound passenger train were crushed on impact. The empty train ended up on top of one passenger car.

Uyterhoeven said the empty train apparently ended up on the wrong track. The driver of the empty train was killed in the crash. Local media reports cited witnesses who said the signals on a level crossing appeared to have malfunctioned ahead of the collision.

Uyterhoeven said the passenger train normally carries about 80 passengers.

A crisis center was set up in the nearby town of Wavre.