At least six people have been killed and five others injured after a passenger train and bus collided at a railway crossing in southern Slovakia, rescuers have said.
The crash occurred just after 5pm (3pm GMT) near the south-western town of Nové Zámky, the CTK news agency reported. The railway spokesperson, Vladimira Bahylova, told AFP the Eurocity train had been heading from Prague to Budapest.
“Six people suffered injuries incompatible with life,” the Slovak rescue service said, updating a previous toll of five dead. “At least five people were injured.”
Petra Klimesova, a spokesperson for the rescue services, said the injured required “immediate medical assistance”, adding: “I am afraid the number of people killed in this accident might grow.”
Bahylova said the driver of the train “suffered burns because the locomotive caught on fire”. She said the collision occurred at a railway crossing that was protected by barriers and was equipped with light signals.
Local media published video footage of passengers carrying luggage alongside a train partly in flames, as thick grey smoke rose to the sky. Katarina Molnarova, a passenger who recorded the video, told AFP that she “felt and heard a crash and a bang” just as the train left the Nové Zámky station.
“After a couple of minutes we were able to get off … We saw that the front part of the train was on fire,” said the 43-year-old cosmetician from the southern town of Sturovo. “There was no screaming or panicking … We grabbed our luggage and walked to the road.
“I saw parts of the bus that had been scattered upon impact.”
Matúš Šutaj Eštok, the interior minister, and the deputy police chief, Rastislav Polakovic, were on their way to the scene of the incident, police said on Facebook.