Montenegro train crash kills 45

The train conductor, who was also injured, was detained for questioning by an investigating magistrate, an official source told AFP.

The train plunged down a 30-metre (100-foot) cliff near the Montenegrin capital Podgorica late on Monday afternoon in what is believed to be the worst rail crash in the former Yugoslav republic's history.

The death toll, including five children, rose overnight from 39, while the number of people on the packed passenger train who suffered injuries rose to almost 198 from 135 late on Monday night, said Podgorica hospital director Miodrag Djurovic.

"Fifty people are in a very serious state. During the night we carried out 18 difficult operations," Djurovic told journalists.

The train went down a canyon of the River Moraca, some 15km north of Podogorica, where it was travelling to from the northern town Bijelo Polje.

Witnesses said about 300 people were on the train at the time, among them many children returning from a ski trip in northern Montenegro.