A train packed with passengers derailed in central Poland today as it was travelling from Warsaw to Katowice, killing one passenger and injuring about 40 others.

Authorities initially said that four people died, but a police commander later said one person had died.

The train derailed in the village of Baby, near the central city of Piotrkow Trybunalski, with the engine and three of the train's carriages going off the tracks, police spokeswoman Ewa Drozdz said.

A passenger, Marcin Chlebowski, told TVN24 television that the train started to slow suddenly and that he then felt a jolt.

It is not clear what caused the accident.

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