Signal is blamed after 46 die in Zimbabwe rail crash

At least 46 people were killed when a crowded passenger train collided with a goods train carrying flammable liquid in north-western Zimbabwe.

Witness Mangwende, the Transport Minister, blamed Saturday's crash on human error, saying a mistake with signals sent the trains hurtling towards each other on the same track. It was the second train crash in Zimbabwe on the same day. A passenger train had earlier derailed near the city of Bulawayo, although no one was injured.

In the second and fatal crash, a southbound train carrying flammable liquid and the passenger train, carrying about 1,100 passengers heading for the north-western resort town of Victoria Falls, collided near the coal-mining centre of Hwange, about 300km (190 miles) from Bulawayo, and burst into flames. At least 68 people were injured.

Many of the train cars were so mangled that the charred casualties were trapped inside. Rescue workers pulled limbs from the wreckage and wrapped them in white sheets. Many of the victims had been burnt beyond recognition.

The mortuary at Hwange was not big enough to hold all the casualties and some had to be taken to Bulawayo.

Passenger trains in Zimbabwe have become increasingly crowded as an acute fuel shortage keeps commuter buses and private cars off the streets. A train crash in the same area in 2000 left 16 people dead, while another injured 22 last year when a train hit an elephant near Hwange.

Last month a freight train hit a commuter bus that failed to stop at a railway crossing in Harare, killing five people and injuring 95.

Zimbabwe's economic crisis and foreign currency shortages have left the state-run rail company with no money to buy spares to maintain locomotives and freight cars.

Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, said: "There are no programmes in place to enhance the safety of our transport systems, despite the constant carnage."