Commuter train collision in Indonesia kills three, injures 28

Rescuers in Indonesia were battling on January 5 to extricate two people trapped between railway cars after commuter trains collided in the province of West Java, killing at least three and injuring 28, authorities said.

Video images from broadcasters MetroTV and Kompas TV showed passengers being helped out of train carriages, some of which had gone off the rails entirely, Reuters reports.

Rescuers were weighing options to save the two people found squeezed between cars, said Herry Marantika, the head of a rescue agency, but declined to say if they were still alive.

Ambulances gathered to take the injured to hospital, police said, following the collision at 6:03 a.m. (1103 GMT) near the provincial capital of Bandung.

The three dead were train crew, said Ibrahim Tompo, a regional spokesperson of West Java police, adding that a total of 478 passengers were aboard the trains, with the 28 injured taken to hospital.

The cause of the crash is not immediately clear, but train operator PT KAI and the provincial government have said they will investigate, along with transport safety officials.