UPDATE - Nine die as train hits van

photo - PAP Grzegorz Michałowski.

One other women travelling in the van, completely destroyed in the crash which occurred at around 05.45 CET this morning, is in hospital with serious injuries.

Eight people died at the crash site and another woman died later in hospital.

The TVN24 news station is reporting that police say the dead were from Ukraine, on their way to fruit-picking seasonal work.

A police spokesman added that the mini-van was only designed to carry six passengers.

“We do not know why the driver did not stop at the crossing,” says Mirosław Siemieniec, spokesperson at PKP national railways.

All of the dead and injured were travelling in the van, he added, with train passengers on the Lowicz to Lodz-Kaliska route unhurt in the crash.

The train was travelling at between 30 to 40 kph as it approached the crossing and stopped a few hundred metres after colliding with the van.

The railway line is currently closed. (pg)

source: PAP