SYDNEY, Australia - A train packed with workers and studentsrammed into another carrying tourists today in mountains outsideSydney, killing at least six people and injuring more than 50 in acrash so violent it shook nearby houses.
About 1,000 people were riding the commuter train, which roundeda blind corner during morning rush hour and slammed into the back ofthe transcontinental Indian Pacific, carrying 159 passengers, staterail authorities said.
"Seats went flying, people went flying, goods went flying," saidMichael Irik, a passenger on the commuter train.
Wayne Geddes, a spokesman for New South Wales State Rail, saidsix people - all from the front car of the commuter train - werekilled and that the death toll was expected to rise as authoritiesworked into the night to recover more victims.
New South Wales state premier, Bob Carr, who visited the scene ina mountain gully, said up to 12 people may have died in theaccident.
"There are going to be maybe 10 or 12 families tonight who willbe very sad," Carr told reporters. "We think of them at this time."
By late today, emergency services had recovered the bodies of ayoung boy, four women and a man from the mangled wreckage. PoliceCommander Bruce Johnson said he did not know if more bodies would befound.
Kate Klim, 21, a passenger in the front car of the two-levelcommuter train, described the last seconds before the crash.
"The train was going along fine, then the train driver ran downthe stairs and said, 'Get down everybody,' " Klim told Sky News. "Weducked down, and then came the crash. Everybody started panicking."
Lindsay Plim, another passenger, also said the driver camerunning out of the front and told everybody to get down. "As soon ashe said that, we went into this monstrous skid," she said.
The Indian Pacific was either stopped or barely moving at thetime. The front cars of the commuter train entered the rear of theIndian P acific, which was filled with travelers' automobiles.
Witnesses said people were thrown around like dolls inside thetrain, seats were torn from their mountings and luggage flew. Theforce of the crash shook nearby houses.
The crash took place a few minutes after an announcement on theIndian Pacific's public address system that the train would bedelayed because of a signal failure, said Irene Barnes, a passenger.
State rail authorities would not comment on the claim, sayingpossible signal faults would be part of an official investigation.
Emergency services treated victims at a nearby sports field andappealed to Sydney residents to give blood to ensure stocks did notrun out.
Rail authorities said the commuter train may have been travelingat up to 50 mph when it crashed near Glenbrook, a small town at thebase of the Blue Mountains, 35 miles west of Sydney. The IndianPacific train, carrying many elderly tourists, was traveling fromPerth into Sydney.
Ambulance spokesman Graham Field said the death toll would havebeen higher if the Indian Pacific hadn't been loaded with vehicles.
"If the last carriage of the Indian Pacific was carryingpassengers, we still would have had a lot more dead and injured," hesaid.
Fifty-one people were taken to hospitals. Dozens more weretreated for minor injuries at the scene and at the nearby sportsfield.
Stephen Bradford, chief executive of the Great Southern RailwayCo., which owns the Indian Pacific, told Australian BroadcastingCorp. radio that five of the train's 159 passengers had receivedminor injuries.
The accident was far less serious than Australia's worst raildisaster, which happened in Granville on Jan. 18, 1977, when acrowded commuter train derailed and struck the supporting pillars ofa road bridge, which collapsed. Eighty-three people were killed and200 injured.
Christian Dupressoir, who survived the 1977 disaster, was in thecommuter train in today's crash.
"Having been in the Granville disaster and having had someexperience with first aid, I thought I'd go to the front and see ifI (could) be of assistance," he said.
"The front carriage was pretty horrific. The train was fairlypacked and people were thrown all over the place."
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