5 killed in Israeli train collision

"Five people were killed and 71 wounded," local police commander Menashe Arviv told reporters at the scene of the crash.

The crash occurred when a train travelling from Tel Aviv to Haifa struck a lorry, which was stuck on the rail line.

Four carriages, including the driver's cabin, were forced off the rails by the impact of the collision as the train travelled between the commercial capital Tel Aviv and the main northern port city of Haifa.

Rescuers from the fire service, backed up by soldiers, could be seen using metal cutters to gain access to the handful of passengers who had not been able to make their own way out of the carriages but the vast majority had managed to walk away unscathed.

Police said three people had died as a result of the accident.

A spokesman for the Magen David Adom ambulance service told AFP that 75 others were injured.

"There are four to five people still stuck inside the main carriage and our teams are now giving them first aid support," Alon Fridman told AFP at the scene.

A total of 57 ambulances had rushed to the scene after reports of the crash were first received.

Although medical sources had initially spoken of more than 150 people being wounded, it soon became apparent that the vast majority were suffering either from shock or minor injuries.

Fridman said that the rescue services were able to react rapidly to the emergency as they were already on a state of readiness over fears of a possible attack by Palestinian militants wanting to avenge the recent deaths of eight civilians on the Gaza Strip seafront.