Two trains collide in Belgrade, 22 injured

Two trains collided Thursday in a tunnel on the outskirts of the Serbian capital city, injuring at least 22 people, Xinhua reported.

The accident took place at 1.30 p.m., when a passenger train from Belgrade to Sid stopped inside the tunnel due to engine failure at 1.25 p.m.. Some five minutes later, another train travelling from Belgrade to Novi Sad smashed into it from the rear.

The driver of the second train was seriously injured in the collision, but most of the injured passengers were from the first train.

"It was great luck that the driver of the first train did not block the wheels, otherwise much more passengers would be injured," Dragan Jovanovic, a guardian of the tunnel, who helped in the evacuation, told Xinhua.

"People were stuck in the last wagon, and we helped them to cross to the next one and everybody was out in 30 minutes," he said.

A team of 39 firefighters and medical staff of six ambulance units were involved in the rescue mission.