At least 18 killed, 98 injured in Tunisia train crash

At least 18 people have been killed and 98 others injured in a passenger train collision with a truck south of the Tunisian capital, Tunis.

The accident happened in the village of Tabika near El Fahes, some 60 kilometers (37 miles) from Tunis, when the train derailed at about 6:30 a.m. local time (0530 GMT) on Tuesday.

Riadh Khlifi, director of El Fahes hospital, said they received the bodies of 17 people, adding that another dead person was transferred to another hospital.

Khlifi also said three of the 98 injured people who were critically wounded were under intense medical care.

The Tunisian Interior Ministry said the train was heading to Tunis from the town of Gaafour, 120 kilometers (74.5 miles) southwest of the capital, in the morning rush hour.

Tunisia’s Ministry of Transport also said most of the dead were passengers on the train. The two drivers were also killed.

“The main cause of the accident is the non-existence of a barrier... and protection at the crossing,” Transport Minister Mahmoud Ben Romdhane told the Mosaique FM radio.

“In Tunisia, there are 1,150 rail crossings. Only 250 are equipped with signal posts and barriers and only 150 have lights. This is insufficient.”

However, the Tunisian National Railway Co (SNCFT) rejected Romdhane’s claim. The SNCFT spokesman, Hassen Miaad, was quoted as saying that there was “a stop sign and a railway crossing sign at the level crossing.”

The presidency has reportedly urged a probe into the deadly incidence “to determine the cause of this catastrophe.”

Although rickety rail networks in Tunisia have resulted in a number of accidents, the latest crash is the most tragic over the past year. In July 2014, another train crash killed five people and left about 40 others injured.

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