Rail accident kills 31 people in Indonesia

A passenger train has hit a locomotive killing at least 31 people in Indonesia.

A passenger train has hit a locomotive killing at least 31 people in Indonesia.

Nearly 50 others were seriously injured in the collision in the town of Cirebon.

Police say more victims are believed to be trapped in the wreckage.

Efforts to find survivors were being hampered due to a lack of heavy-lifting equipment.

READ MORE

The passenger train was traveling from Jakarta to the popular foreign tourist destination of Yogyakarta, said Zainal Abidin, a spokesman of the state-run railway company PT Kereta Api. There are no reports of foreigners involved in the accident.

The state Antara news agency has quoted Minister of Transportation Mr Agum Gumelar as saying human error was to blame for the accident.

Indonesia has had a string of fatal train crashes recently. Officials blamed signal failure for most of the accidents.