A passenger train partially derailed in eastern Iran early Wednesday, killing at least 17 people and injuring 50 more, including some critically, the authorities said, The New York Times reports.
Initial details about the disaster involving the train, which was reportedly carrying about 350 passengers, remained unclear, but there were fears that the number of casualties could rise.
Four of the seven cars in the train derailed in the early morning darkness near the desert city of Tabas, about 340 miles, or 550 kilometers, southeast of the capital, Tehran, Iranian state television reported.
Rescue teams with ambulances and helicopters arrived at the crash site, in a remote area with poor communications links.
Aerial footage of the desert site of the disaster showed train cars on their side, with some rescuers running at the scene as they tried to care for those injured. Ali Akbar Rahimi, the governor of Tabas, was quoted by Iranian media as saying the number of deaths could rise after rescuers searched the train cars.
State television later aired images from a hospital where the injured were taken for treatment. One of those injured told the broadcaster they felt the train suddenly brake and then slow before the derailment.
