Two foreigners killed in Croatian train crash

Four Croatians, a French woman and Spanish man are among the dead of a train crash near Croatia's coastal resort of Split that also left dozens injured, a hospital said yesterday.

"All six victims of the accident have been identified," Doctor Simun Andjelinovic of Split's main hospital told national radio a day after the accident.

Apart from the two women and two men from Croatia - all from the capital Zagreb - the fatalities include a French woman and a man holding both Spanish and Croat citizenship, he said. The foreign ministry said earlier yesterday that at least 12 foreigners were among the 55 people injured.

"According to the current information among the injured foreign citizens who received medical help there were four French nationals, two Australians, as well as one citizen of Belgium, Britain, Slovenia, Sweden, Norway and Pakistan respectively," a ministry statement said.

The Split hospital said earlier that 13 of the 55 injured were still hospitalised, including a French woman who sustained serious internal injuries.

The accident occurred last Friday when a high-speed passenger train, with some 90 people on board, derailed near Split in a hilly area.

According to reports, 33 people were killed in the same region in a rail accident in 1966. A train also derailed at the same site last year, but that accident caused no casualties.

Croatian Railways would not comment on what caused the accident but according to some witnesses the tilting train's brakes may have been faulty.

After experts warned that Croatia's railway system was not prepared for tilting trains most of them are not in use.