Australian train crash kills 11

A train has hit a lorry at a level-crossing in the Australian state of Victoria, killing 11 people and injuring 24 others.

Police fear the death toll could rise with three people still unaccounted for after the vehicle hit the second carriage, almost cutting the train in half near the rural town of Kerang in northwest Victoria.

Passenger Sue Fyffee said: "The truck just didn't stop. He may have had the sun in his eyes. He tried to divert and he went off into the dirt and hit the carriage behind me.

"If the third carriage had not come off I think the whole train would have derailed. The back carriage is about 150m (450ft) down the track and the carriage behind mine is just half gone.

"There is a big gaping hole in the side...the carriage is mangled, you wonder how anybody got out."

She said passengers initially feared the train would be engulfed in fire. "People were screaming. There was glass everywhere. I helped the elderly who had broken bones."

Another witness, named only as Helena, told the Seven television network many of those injured had lost arms and legs.

Emergency officials said many of those hurt were treated at the scene of the crash, but those with serious injuries, including a 15-year old girl, had been flown to the Victorian capital of Melbourne for treatment.

Chief of nearby Kerang hospital, Robert Jarman, said many of the injured are being treated and assessed at the scene of the crash. "We have air ambulances flying in and out," he said.

© Independent Television News Limited 2007. All rights reserved.