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Brussels - Two trains crashed head-on outside of Brussels on Monday, killing at least 20 people, officials and Belgian broadcaster VRT said.

The local trains collided near Halle, some 15 kilometres (9 miles) southwest of Brussels at around 8.30am (07.30 GMT).

VRT said 20 people were killed, but officials from the train line operator were unable to immediately confirm that figure.

Train services, including the high-speed line between Brussels and Paris, were blocked. - Reuters

Belgian train crash: Toll put at 10 to 25 in Halle

Page last updated at 12:12 GMT, Monday, 15 February 2010
BBC

Two passenger trains in Belgium have collided head-on near the capital, Brussels, with the latest reports of the death toll ranging from 10 to 25.

Railway officials said the trains collided during the morning rush hour at Halle, south-west of Brussels.

The national railway said 25 people had died. Other officials said there had been at least 10 deaths.

Belgian media said the trains collided in snowy conditions. Trains to southern Belgium and beyond have been cancelled.

'Enormous devastation'

The trains collided in the commuter town around 0830 local time (0730GMT) on Monday.

Television pictures showed carriages pushed up at an angle or leaning to the side from the force of the crash.

Witnesses said people were thrown around violently inside the trains with one passenger describing the "carriages compacted together" by the collision.

Emergency workers said there was considerable damage to the overhead power lines at the station in Buizingen, the district of Halle where the trains crashed.

Belgium's track operator Infrabel said an investigation into the accident was under way.

"The devastation is enormous," said Infrabel spokesman Bram De Saedeleer.

"Officials of the public prosecutor's office are at the scene and will supervise the investigation. Our first concern is for the victims."

Doctors were treating some of the injured at the scene of the crash while others had been taken to nearby hospitals.

Lightly injured passengers were taken to a sports hall for treatment.

Belgian broadcaster VRT reported that sources with the national railway operator said 25 people had been killed.

Local mayor Dirk Pieters said "the most recent information we have is that 20 people died... I base this on what the police and firefighters tell me."

But the governor of Flemish Brabant province, Lodewijk De Witte, told VRT that 10 people were killed.

Train service disrupted

Infrabel said one train had been going from Leuven to Braine-le-Comte while the second train had been travelling from Quievrain to Liege.

Rail services between Brussels and the south west of Belgium have been disrupted.

There are no services between Brussels and Tournai or Mons. And Eurostar said its Brussels trains, including those to and from the UK, were cancelled until further notice.

One Eurostar passenger bound for Brussels told the BBC his train had been stopped at Lille and passengers put on buses to the Belgian capital.

Other high-speed trains between Paris and Brussels have also been cancelled.

There has been no indication of what caused the collision but it comes after a weekend of snow and freezing temperatures across Belgium.

In 2001, eight people were killed and 12 were injured in a head-on collision between commuter trains outside Brussels. It was thought that language difficulties between a Flemish-speaking signalman and a French-speaking colleague were a factor in that crash.

Another accident in 2008 left more than 40 people injured when a passenger train travelling in the wrong direction hit a goods train in central Belgium, AFP news agency said.

At least 18 killed in Belgian train crash

• Morning rush-hour trains collide outside Brussels
• Eurostar services to city suspended

* Ian Traynor in Brussels
* guardian.co.uk, Monday 15 February 2010 14.58 GMT

The number of people killed in Belgium's deadliest train crash for decades rose to 18 tonight and the figure was expected to grow, with some of the 125 people injured in the rush-hour collision still in a critical condition.

King Albert of Belgium went to the scene of the crash in Buizingen, about nine miles south-west of Brussels, tonight after interrupting a holiday in France. He was accompanied by the prime minister, Yves Leterme, who cut short a visit to Kosovo to return home.

"A black day for Flanders," said Kris Peeters, prime minister for the Flemish part of Belgium, where the crash happened.

While no official reason for the crash has yet been given, speculation focused on one of the two commuter trains reportedly running through a red light at about 8.30am this morning and crashing head-on with the other train using the same track. The impact left the front ends of the trains rearing up from the tracks and locked among overhead cables.

The Eurostar service from London to Brussels was suspended, compounding a bad week for the ill-starred company, which was savaged at the weekend in a report on its failures to cope with the cold weather over Christmas. High-speed trains to Brussels from Paris were also cancelled.

The crisis headquarters set up to deal with the aftermath of the crash reported last night that 18 people had been confirmed dead – 15 males and three females – after the accident, which happened in the Brussels commuter belt after an icy night with light snowfall.

The injured amounted to about half of the 300 people thought to have been on the two trains.

"I saw a dead man outside the train and people crying for help from the other train," Sebastien Duckers, 23, told Le Soir newspaper after emerging from one of the trains relatively unscathed.

Emergency services and rescuers cordoned off the area around the crash and carried away the injured and dead in sub-zero temperatures. Uninjured survivors were advised to remain on the trains for fear of electrocution, Duckers said.

It remained unclear whether icy rails had played a role in the collision.

Political leaders and railway officials feared the death toll could rise to at least 25, which would make it the worst rail tragedy in the country for the last half-century. However, some noted that the crash, in the half-term break, meant fewer schoolchildren were on board than might have been the case.

Several uninjured passengers said one of the trains careered through a red light and smashed into the oncoming train.

Infrabel, the firm that runs Belgium's railway infrastructure, said tonight that the line had a safety system that stops a train that goes through a red light.

UK Eurostar services to Brussels suspended until 'at least' Monday

Passengers advised to cancel or postpone journeys following Belgian commuter train collision that killed 18 people

* Adam Gabbatt
* guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 17 February 2010 20.03 GMT

Eurostar trains between the UK and Brussels will continue to be suspended until at least Monday, a spokesman said.

Services have been cancelled since two commuter trains collided head-on on Monday morning, killing 18 people and injuring 171. An investigation is continues at the scene of the crash, in which 171 people were injured.

A Eurostar spokesman said: "Passengers are strongly advised to postpone or cancel their journeys and they can exchange or refund their tickets." There is a shuttle bus from Lille to the Belgian capital, although Eurostar is operating a reduced service between London and Lille, due to congestion at the French station.

Services between the UK and Paris continue to operate normally.