Death toll rises to 49 in train collision in northern Iran

Death toll has risen to 49 in the train accident which took place in northern Iran on Friday, the Governor of Iran's East Azerbaijan province said on Sunday.


All the dead are from East Azerbaijan who were heading to the north-eastern holy city of Mashhad for pilgrimage, the Governor, Esmaeil Jabbarzadeh, was quoted as saying by Tasnim news agency.


The reports said that another 103 people were also injured in the accident.


On Friday, two trains collided in Haft-Khan train station located between Semnan and Damghan cities in Iran's Semnan province at 7:45 a.m. local time (0415 GMT).


Wagons were set in fire as the trains collided and the deaths and most of the injuries were due to the burning, reports said.


On Sunday, Iran's Railways Chief Mohsen Pourseyed Aqaei resigned following the deadly train accident, Tasnim news agency reported.


Minister of Road and Urban Development Abbas Akhoundi accepted Aqaei's resignation, the report said.


Iranian lawmakers are also working on a plan to impeach Akhoundi for what they call his weak performance that led to the terrible train accident.


On Saturday, three railway staff were detained over the collision, the prosecutor of Semnan province, Heidar Asiaei, was quoted as saying by semi-official Mehr news agency.


Iranian officials said that human failure in observing the duties was the cause of the accident.

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