A passenger train crashed into a truck in central Israel, killing at least seven people and injuring over 100 today in the country's worst rail accident for a decade, rescue workers said.
Passengers were thrown dozens of metres from carriages and others were trapped in the wreckage when the train from the northern city of Haifa to southern Beersheba hit the truck at a dirt road crossing in farmland near Kibbutz Revadim.
An official of the Magen David Adom ambulance service said at least seven people were killed in the crash in central Israel.
Blood-covered passengers were carried from the wreckage in scenes reminiscent of attacks in over 4-1/2 years of a Palestinian uprising. Survivors reassured loved ones by mobile phone from stretchers in the sunflower field.
“The entire train shook when the truck hit the carriage. Everyone dropped to the ground. There was flying glass. I was in a carriage that was badly hit but most people on it were unhurt,” one passenger, Dafna, told Channel Two television.
“There was complete mayhem,” said another passenger.
Rescue workers said more than 100 people were injured. Sniffer dogs worked under searchlights, seeking anyone who might have been missed. Army helicopters whirred in to pick up the worst injured.
The train hit the vehicle when it was trying to cross the track, rescuers said. Two carriages at the front of the train tipped over into the field. Another derailed at the rear because of the sudden stop.
Police said they believed the truck driver was dead.
Train crashes are rare in Israel which has recently begun to expand its railway network.
In 1985, 22 children from the town of Petah Tikva were killed in Israel's worst rail accident. Their school bus collided with a train in northern Israel.