At least 30 die in Zimbabwe train crash

At least 30 people died and many were injured when a passenger train slammed into a freight train in northwestern Zimbabwe today, state radio reported.

The southbound freight train collided with the passenger train headed to the north western resort town of Victoria Falls near the coal mining centre of Hwange, about 190 miles from the provincial capital of Bulawayo.

The radio said 30 bodies were recovered from the wreckage. It said “many more” passengers were injured and were being ferried to hospital facilities at the Hwange coal mine.

Hours after the crash at 3am. (1am Irish time), rescuers were still trying to free people trapped in the mangled passenger cars and feared more dead bodies would be pulled from the wreckage.

Transport Minister Witness Mangwende and the secretary for transport Christian Katsande were travelling to the crash site to head investigations into the cause, the radio report said.

The railway in western Zimbabwe is the main line to mineral rich neighbours Zambia and Congo. Hwange is the railhead for Zimbabwe’s biggest coal mine.

The state railroad company has been hit by shortages of imported spare parts and maintenance equipment for its locomotives and rolling stock.