At least 10 people were killed when two trains collided in northeast France on Wednesday, SNCF the state railways company has said.

A goods train and passenger 3

23train collided near the village of Zoufftgen not far from the border with Luxembourg late on Wednesday morning, according to SNCF.

Authorities for the Lorraine region said that nine of those killed were passengers aboard the train. The two train drivers were also apparently killed.

"It is terrible," Patrick Hatzig, a vice-president of the Lorraine regional council, told Reuters by telephone from the site of the crash.

"There was a head-on collision. Some people were seriously injured and have been moved [to hospital]. Others are still trapped in there."

A fire brigade official said that around 20 people were thought to have been injured in the crash.

The crash occurred on a line linking Luxembourg to the French town of Thionville.

Officials rush to scene

Dominique de Villepin, the French prime minister, was flying to the French Caribbean when news of the accident broke and decided to turn back to France to visit the crash scene.

Dominique Perben, the French transport minister, has also rushed to the scene of the crash

Wednesday's crash appeared to be the worst train disaster in France since November 2002 when fire swept through a sleeping car on a Paris-Vienna express train, killing 12 people.

French railways said they had opened an inquiry into the collision.

Photo Caption

Scene of the clash