SOFIA, Oct 4 – A Bulgaria-Sofia international train and a local commuter train collided head-on early Monday leaving 15 passengers injured in western Bulgaria, the interior ministry said.
"There are 15 injured. Two of them — most probably the train conductors — seriously," deputy interior minister Veselin Vuchkov said.He estimated that the number of injured was likely to rise.
The collision occurred between two stations, Dragoil and Dragoman, and the head of the state BDZ railway company, Pencho Popov, said the accident could have been caused by local station chiefs.
The BDZ railway system has long suffered from a severe shortage of funds and is operating with outdated equipment, officials admitted.
The BDZ has also battled for years with thefts of cables, rails, traffic control and other signalling equipment which thieves sell for scrap.