Two passenger trains have collided in Iran’s northern province of Semnan, killing at least 15 people and injuring dozens, with the fatalities and casualties expected to rise.

The crash occurred at the Haft-Khan station in the city of Shahroud, about 400km east of Tehran.

At least 8 killed, 15 injured in a train collision in Semnan, north Iran (Photos: IRNA) pic.twitter.com/bGpLAOHZU2

— CCTVNEWS (@cctvnews) 25 ноября 2016 г.

“At least 15 people were killed and over 20 others have been injured in the crash,” the semi-official Mehr news agency quoted head of Iran’s Red Crescent Ali Asghar Ahmadi as saying.

Iranian media gave contradictory reports on the death toll and number of injured passengers in the crash.

The semi-official Fars news agency said 52 people were injured.

At least 15 killed, dozens wounded in Iran train crash: official https://t.co/RhC2DgIjX4

— Reuters Iran (@ReutersIran) 25 ноября 2016 г.

Reports gave no details on the number of passengers in the trains, but Fars said 100 passengers had been rescued.

State television showed footage of four derailed carriages, with two of them on fire.

A spokesman for Iran’s Red Crescent, Mostafa Mortazavi, told Fars firefighters were trying to control the blaze.

“The accident happened when a passenger train in motion crashed to another one that had stopped at the station,” it said.

The cause of the collision was under investigation, and rescue teams had been dispatched to the accident.

A local official told state TV the remote location of the train station had slowed rescue efforts.

Source: sbs.com.au