Belguim train crash kills driver

The driver of a passenger train was killed and about 20 passengers injured after a train in southern Belgium was derailed and fell into the path of another oncoming locomotive.

The driver of a passenger train was killed and about 20 passengers injured after a train in southern Belgium was derailed and fell into the path of another oncoming locomotive.

One train appeared to have been derailed by a concrete bloc which police suspected had been placed deliberately on the track at Aiseau-Presles outside the city of Charleroi, about 40 miles south of Brussels. Witnesses said children had been playing near the track just before the crash.

The driver died in hospital after an emergency operation.

"His injuries were so grave, he had no chance," said Etienne Schouppe, head of the national rail company NMBS-SNCB.

The trains hit head on. The driver of the other train and two passengers were also seriously injured.

The rail company reported the line between Charleroi and Namur would remain cut until Wednesday morning.