Train collides with bus in Slovakia, killing at least five people

A train travelling from the Czech capital Prague to the Hungarian capital Budapest collided with a bus in southern Slovakia on Thursday, leaving at least five people dead and five injured, officials said.

More than 100 people were aboard the Eurocity train when the accident took place shortly after 5 p.m. in the town of Nove Zamky, police and the Slovak railway company ZSSK said. The deaths and injuries were confirmed by Slovakia's rescue service.

Video footage showed that the engine of the train was on fire. The bus was badly damaged in the crash, railway officials said.

Slovak Interior Minister Matus Sutai Estok was heading to the scene of the accident, police said.

The major train track linking Slovakia's capital Bratislava with Budapest was closed until further notice.

The more than 100 stranded passengers aboard the stricken train were being transported by buses to the town of Sturovo on the Hungarian border, ZSSK said.

Slovakian President Peter Pellegrini, who was in in Brussels to attend a summit of European Union leaders, offered his condolences to the relatives of the dead.

"I wish the injured a speedy recovery and thank the doctors and rescue teams for their work done," Pellegrini said. "I wish that such catastrophes would avoid Slovakia in the future."