Bioce, Serbia-Montenegro – A packed passenger train derailed Monday and plunged into a steep river canyon outside the Montenegrin capital, killing at least 39 people, the government said.
More than 135 people were injured in the late-afternoon crash, among the deadliest European train accidents of the past 25 years.
The train, which carried dozens of children returning home from a ski vacation, derailed near Bioce, a village about 9 miles northeast of Podgorica as it emerged from a tunnel above the Moraca River, police said.
Interior Minister Jusuf Kalomperovic said initial reports indicated the train’s brakes may have failed.
Victims cried for help from the ravine, where four train cars lay smashed. Darkness in the densely forested area was hampering rescue efforts.
“It was horrible. I saw many dead and wounded around me,” said one passenger from Hungary.
Police, medical workers and volunteers pulled bodies from the 328-foot ravine. At least 200 passengers were believed to be on the train.
Deputy Prime Minister Miroslav Ivanisevic described the crash as the worst rail accident in the history of Montenegro.
He said 39 people had died and 135 had been injured, warning that the figures could rise further as emergency crews continue to reach victims.
The train was en route from the northeastern town of Bijelo Polje to the Montenegrin coastal city of Bar when it derailed.
Montenegrin President Filip Vujanovic visited the scene and called it a “catastrophe.”
