Belgium Train Crash: 3 Dead, Dozens Injured After Passenger Train, Freight Train Collide In Liege

Three people have been killed after two trains collided in eastern Belgium Sunday night, according to reports. About 40 people have been injured in the accident.

The crash occurred in Hermalle-sous-Huy town of Liege province. A passenger train that was traveling at a high speed rammed on to the rear of a freight train, Belgium’s rail infrastructure managing company Infrabel, said. The trains were reportedly on the same track.

Francis Dejon, the mayor of the commune of Saint-Georges-sur-Meuse, said the collision had been “very violent,” the Associated Press (AP) reported citing RTBF state broadcaster. A witness told French newspaper L’Avenir that the train coaches were completely damaged in the collision, BBC reported.

“All our services are mobilized, and are completely cooperating with rescue services,” Infrabel and SNCB, the company that operates Belgian trains, said in a statement cited by the AP.

By early Monday, passengers were reportedly freed from the wrecked cars. The circumstances of the collision were not immediately clear and questions persisted over whether the passenger train was able to apply brakes before the accident.

“The priority is to care for the victims,” Infrabel and SNCB said, according to Agence France-Presse, adding that available information was already being examined to determine how the crash occurred.

A crisis center was reportedly set up at the scene of the accident.