Iran official: death toll in train collision increases to 31

Published : Nov 25, 2016 - 20:36 Updated : Nov 25, 2016 - 21:40

TEHRAN, Iran -- An Iranian official has told state TV that the death toll from a train collision in the country's north has increased to 31.

The provincial governor, Mohammad Reza Khabbaz, says that so far 31 bodies have been found at the site of the crash on Friday morning. Earlier, eight people were reported to have been killed.

A handout picture released on November 25, 2016 by the Tasnim news agency shows damaged trains following an accident in the Semnan province, some 250 kms east of the Iranian capital Tehran. At least 31 people were killed in Iran early when an intercity express was hit by another train while stopped at a station, the provincial governor said. (AFP)

State TV said accident happened in subzero temperatures when a passenger train that was in motion hit another that had stopped at a station about 250 kilometers (150 miles) east of the capital, Tehran.

Pir Hossein Kolivand, who runs Iran's emergency department, says that 80 people who were injured in the collision were all in hospital. He says many of them only suffered minor injuries. (AP)