Six dead as Indonesia train derails

[John Ashworth]

Six dead as Indonesia train derails

BBC Page last updated at 10:49 GMT, Tuesday, 29 June 2010 11:49 UK

At least six people have been killed when a crowded train came off the rails in the Indonesian province of East Java, say officials.

A number of people were also injured in the incident at Madiun, about 180km (112 miles) east of Yogyakarta.

Transport ministry spokesman Bambang Ervan said the cause of the derailment was not known but an investigation team was on its way to the scene.

The injured were being counted and taken to hospital, Mr Ervan said.

"The sixth to eighth carriages have derailed while the ninth to 11th carriages have flipped over," he told the AFP news agency.

"We cannot predict whether the toll will rise but the train was quite crowded."

Haryono Wirotomo, an official at state-run rail company Kereta Api Indonesia, told AFP about 200 people had been on board the train at the time.

He said one person was critically injured.