Six dead and more than a hundred injured after train crashes into collapsed bridge

Many firefighters are at the scene, helping remove the victims from the train, according to witnesses.

The EuroCity train, travelling from the Polish city of Krakow to the Czech capital, crashed at the speed of about of about 140 km (87 miles) per hour.

Pulverised carriages strew the rails

Some 400 people were on board, CT24 television said.

'An international train from Krakow to Prague ran into a collapsed bridge which fell on the rails in the area of the town Studenka,' said Radek Joklik, spokesman for the Czech Railways.

A fire brigade spokesman confirmed six dead but said rescue teams had not yet searched through all of the wreckage.

'There are many injured,' said fire brigade officer David Pridal. 'There are some dead, but we do not have precise numbers because our people are devoting time to rescue those alive.'

There was no information on the nationality of the victims. Both Krakow and Prague are popular with foreign visitors.

Train crash, Studenka, Czech Republic

The wreckage of the train lies across the collapsed bridge and, below, rescue workers crowd around the mangled carriages

Studenka lies about 350 km from Prague and close to the eastern Czech city of Ostrava and the Polish border.

'There are many injured,' said fire brigade duty officer David Pridal.

'There are some dead, but we do not have precise numbers yet, because our people are rather devoting time to rescue those alive.'

Pictures from the scene showed rescue teams climbing into mangled green and white train carriages that had been thrown off the rails and were tangled in the ruins of the bridge.

'It looks terrible there,' said Jan Kucera, of the Railway Inspectors. 'The carriages are derailed and passengers are trapped.'

The locomotive and several carriages of the Comenius express were damaged.

Rescuers said the bridge, which was under reconstruction, may have collapsed while the train was approaching or passing underneath.