Seven die in Austrian train crash

VIENNA, Austria -- At least seven people have been killed in a freight train collision in Austria, the national rail organisation says.

A spokeswoman for Austrian railways, OeBB, said 15 people were also injured in the accident south of Vienna.

At least one train car derailed, emergency officials said, and medical helicopters were on the scene.

About 200 police, fire department and other rescue workers were also at the scene. and regional hospitals were on alert to receive teh casualties.

Rescue efforts were hampered because equipment meant to pry victims out of the wreckage was not strong enough for the thick metal of the railway cars, state television said.

No information on the cause of the accident was immediately available.

Both trains were carrying teams of railroad employees.

A Reuters photographer on the scene said bodies had been pulled from the wreckage of the two freight trains.

One train was transporting lorries whose drivers were travelling in a passenger wagon on their way to the Hungarian city of Sopron, near the Austrian border, said railways spokesman Johann Rankl.

The accident happened a few metres outside the village of Wampersdorf village station, 22 miles (30km) south of Vienna.

State television's on-screen text service said some victims remained trapped in the twisted metal of the wrecked carriages, The Associated Press reported.