10 dead with 15 in critical condition and 50 injured after train derails

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Ten people have died and a total of fifty people have been injured after a horror train derailment.

The incident occurred near the desert village of Tabas in Iran while en route to city of Yazd in the early hours of Wednesday morning (June 8).

Tabas is located around 550 kilometres (341 miles) to the southeast of the Iranian capital Tehran.

An update from emergency services revealed that 15 people taken to hospital in a critical condition. Two aid workers and two helicopters were sent to the scene.

A statement from Iran's central emergency department read: "At 5:30 this morning, the Mashhad-Yazd passenger train derailed on the Tabas axis, and unfortunately 5 people died in this accident.

"15 people are in critical condition and about 50 people were injured. Two teams of Red Crescent aid workers and two helicopters were dispatched to the scene."

The state-run Fars news agency reported that five out of the seven train carriages derailed. A later update confirmed the number of dead had risen to 10, with the number likely to rise.

Mir-Hassan Mousavi, Iran's Deputy Minister of Railway Passenger Fleet, said initial reports suggested the train had hit an excavator on the line.

Giving an update to Iranian news agency ISNA, Mojtaba Khaledi, the country's emergency spokesman said: "Three emergency helicopters and 10 ambulances have been sent to the scene.

"Relief work is still going on in the area and according to the reports received so far, unfortunately 10 people have been killed."

A previous train accident in Iran back in 2016 saw 49 people die and 103 injured after two trains collided on the main line between the cities of Semnan and Damghan.

Rescue efforts were reportedly hampered by the remoteness of the rail line, which was only accessible by helicopter.

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