Train crash in Brazil

A high speed train slammed into a stationary train in Brazil today, officials said.

A firefighter at the scene said there were reports of fatalities.

The trains collided about 200 metres from the Austin station near Nova Iguac on Rio de Janeiro’s poor north side, said a firefighter who gave his name only as Sgt Goncalves.

“We heard there were various victims, including fatalities,” he said by telephone. “But all we can say for sure is that the two trains collided head-on.”

Civil Defence officials said 60 firefighters were working at the site to remove victims.

“Our priority is to give support to the survivors, the passengers trapped in the wreckage, and reduce the number of fatal victims,” Col Souza Filho, the head of Rio de Janeiro’s Civil Defence Department, said in an interview with the Globo TV network.

Souza Filho said preliminary reports were that one train was empty and the other was carrying commuters.

A Rio de Janeiro state police office said six people were killed.

Col Heraldo Rodrigues, of the Rio de Janeiro state police Railroad Battalion, said in a radio interview that six people were killed in the crash.

Local media reported that eight people were killed and 40 injured, but firefighters did not confirm the numbers.