Twenty-two people died when a passenger train derailed in eastern Iran. More than 50 passengers were also reported to be seriously injured. The accident too place near the city of Tabas, which is 550km (340 miles) southeast of the Iranian capital, Tehran.
The number of deaths could rise, reports say as there were as many as 350 aboard the train. Some reports said the train collided with an excavator near the track, but it was not clear why the construction excavator would have been that close to the train track especially at night. One official said it might have been part of a repair project but details about the accident remained unclear.