Tehran: At least 30 people were injured on Friday when a truck driver crossed a railroad at high speed and crashed into a train in the north of Iran, media reported.
State news agency IRNA, quoting a provincial governor, said the accident took place in the morning as the train was travelling along the Caspian Sea in Mazandaran province.
“30 train passengers were injured in this incident and were sent to hospitals in Behshahr and Galoogah,” said Zakariya Ashkpoor.
ISNA news agency quoted the head of the regional railway authority, Yousuf Geranpasha, as saying that 150 passengers were on board the train and that those hurt were only lightly injured.
According to Geranpasha, the truck driver “was talking on his mobile phone” at the time and “driving at high speed on a forbidden road and was not paying attention to the train”.
As a result he crossed the railroad and crashed into the train, he said.
The train was travelling between the city of Pol-e-Sefid in Mazadaran province and Gorgan in the nearby province of Golestan, he added.
Road accidents kill at least 20,000 people each year in Iran.
Friday’s collision was the fourth this year involving a train and a vehicle in northern Iran.
