At least 18 killed in rush-hour crash as 'train misses stop light'

Railway officials said the crash happened after one of the trains missed a stop light at rush-hour in a Brussels suburb.

Efforts to disentangle the two trains are ongoing and there are fears more bodies will be found in the wreckage. At least 55 people were injured and of those, 30 survivors remained in hospital last night, some in a "very serious" condition.

The crash disrupted train services across western Europe with rail services to Paris and London cancelled.

Lodewijk De Witte, the governor of the province of Flemish Brabant, told reporters that one train "apparently did not heed a stop light".

The trains collided in light snow at Halle, south-west of the Belgian capital, at about 8.30am (0730 GMT).

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

The force of the collision smashed one train deep into the front of the other and television pictures showed carriages pushed up at an angle.

One of the front cars appeared to have careered across the tracks, demolishing overhead power lines and a maintenance shed.

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

Christian Wampach, 47, was among the walking wounded treated at a nearby sports centre.

"It was a nightmare," he said. "We were thrown about for about 15 seconds. There were a number of people injured in my car but I think all the dead were in the first car."

Patricia Lallemand, 40, who escaped unhurt was in the same carriage on the same Brussels-bound train as Mr Wampach. "When we came out we saw dead bodies lying next to the tracks," she said.

Wira Leire, 20, said he was woken by a loud crashing sound and leapt to his bedroom window to see two trains jackknifed directly in front of his home.

"There were people lying on the ground next to the train, so I grabbed some blankets and ran into the back garden," he said. "But I couldn't climb over the concrete wall, so I just threw the blankets to the rescuers who were already gathering."

Belgian Prime Minister Yves Leterme cancelled a trip to Kosovo, turning around his plane minutes after landing at Pristina's main airport.

Services between Brussels and Mons were cancelled, while Eurostar suspended its high-speed train service in and out of Brussels. A "reduced service" is in operation between Eurostar stations in the UK and Lille.

A statement from Eurostar read: "Because of the seriousness of the accident and the expected impact on both domestic and international rail services, passengers between the UK and Brussels are strongly advised to postpone or cancel their journeys."

Passengers will be able to exchange or refund tickets, the firm said.

The accident also hit the French high-speed Thalys service, which links major cities in Belgium, France, Germany and the Netherlands.

Yesterday's collision is believed to be the country's worst since 1954, when a crash near Leuven killed 20 German football

fans and seriously injured 40 others.

In 2001, eight people were killed and 12 were injured in a head-on collision between commuter trains outside Brussels.