Up to 60 Dead in Sri Lankan Train Crash

Breaking News:

An express train slammed into a packed bus on a level crossing near the town Polgahawela in Sri Lanka. The bus caught fire and up to 60 are feared dead. The bus driver is being blamed for the accident as he ignored signals warning that a train was approaching.

The Australian: Up to 60 dead in Sri Lankan train crash

"MORE than 50 people were feared dead after a passenger train crashed into a commuter bus in central Sri Lanka today, police said.

"The Colombo-Kandy inter-city express train collided with a commuter bus. We fear close to 60 have died," said a spokeswoman at the police emergency centre in Colombo.

BBC: Sri Lanka rail crash kills scores

The bus, which was crossing the tracks at a level crossing, caught fire upon impact

Rescue workers are still trying to reach the burned remains of passengers.

the driver of the bus is already being blamed for the incident.

According to local police reports he ignored signals warning that a train was approaching and tried to cross the track before the train passed.

These newslinks gets updated every minute as more info gets available...

[edit on 2005/4/27 by Hellmutt]

Update:

BBC: Sri Lanka rail crash 'kills 35'

Efforts to pull survivors from the bus were hampered by a blaze which broke out on impact. Nobody aboard the train is believed to have been hurt.

The bus driver and conductor, who were both hurt, have been arrested.

After the first impact, the bus spun around and hit the train again

The bus was dragged about 500 metres down the track

According to Sri Lanka Railways, the bus was carrying 99 passengers.

so many train accidents in such a short period of time

btw anyone ever noticed a pattern of events around the world, it's like we have a several incidents of one kind and then we're on to something else... plane crashes, earthquakes, volcanoes, murdered wives, missing kids, etc etc etc, all seem to happen in groups.