Norway train derails on north coast

According to police, a locomotive and five train carriages of the Arctic Circle Express went off the tracks. Witnesses and initial police assessments suggested a rock slide caused the derailment.

A passenger train running along Norway's northern coast, carrying approximately 55 people, derailed on Thursday, killing one and injuring four others.

The Arctic Circle Express, traveling from Trondheim to the remote northern town of Bodoe, above the Arctic Circle, derailed from the mountainside track.

Cause of the derailment

A passenger told Norwegian broadcaster NRK that a rock had hit the train, while police said it was a rock slide that likely caused the derailment.

"There were 55 people on board the train when it derailed," Bent Are Eilertsen, a police official, told the NTB news agency, adding that all passengers had been evacuated from the train.

Those injured were taken to a nearby hospital. Their condition is unclear.

Images from the scene of the derailment showed the locomotive and the first of five carriages sliding down an incline next to the track.

Norway's rugged landscape means landslides often hit the country.

rmt/lo (AFP, AP, Reuters)