Preliminary projections by independent monitors in Montenegro's presidential election show ruling-party leader Milo Djukanovic sweeping the vote, avoiding a run-off.

Investigators believe a “human factor” was behind the train accident in Montenegro that left 44 dead and nearly 200 injured, an official said today.

Emergency teams resumed searching the wreckage of a four-carriage passenger train today, which derailed and plunged into a river canyon outside the Montenegrin capital, killing at least 44 people and injuring 198, officials said.

Montenegro tonight officially proposed a final split from Serbia, suggesting that the two Balkan republics recognise each other as sovereign states.