Three killed, over 20 hurt in Sri Lanka train crash

COLOMBO: At least three people including a Korean national were killed and about 25 injured near the Sri Lankan capital when a passenger train crashed into the back of another train, police said.

Railway workers were still searching for passengers who might be trapped in the wreckage after the accident, which took place late Saturday close to a railway station in Alawwa, some 60 kilometers (35 miles) north of Colombo.

"A Korean national and the engine driver were among those killed," police spokesman Maxi Proctor said.

Proctor said that 18 people were receiving treatment in nearby hospitals. The others, with minor injuries, had left hospital after being treated.

He said that the Korean was travelling in the observation car of the moving train, which was heading to the central town of Kandy. The Korean was killed in the crash and the observation car completely destroyed, Proctor added.

He declined to comment on the cause of the accident, saying it was still being investigated.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011