Four wagons of a five-car passenger train traveling between
Center, told the semiofficial Iranian Labor News Agency that the death
toll was likely to rise “in view of the critical conditions of some
casualties and the type of incident.”
Officials cited by Iranian news agencies variously
attributed the accident to a switch failure, the breaking of a pin, an
obstacle on the tracks or the train traveling too fast.
Experts say
transportation sector, especially civil aviation, has deteriorated over
the last 30 years because of international sanctions, mismanagement and
lack of investment.
Three people died last summer in a train accident
along the same route. In 2004, a train loaded with chemicals and
fertilizer exploded after an accident along the route, killing at least
300 residents, including several local officials.
The West has offered to lift sanctions and contribute to the rebuilding of
nuclear program is meant solely for peaceful civilian purposes and
refuses to abide by U.N. Security Council resolutions calling on it to
halt uranium enrichment.
—
(c) 2010, Los Angeles Times.
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