PRAGUE • A train driver died and dozens of passengers were injured when a passenger train collided with a stationary freight train near Prague, a Czech minister and rescuers said yesterday.

"Unfortunately... I have learnt there is one dead," Transport Minister Karel Havlicek told the public broadcaster Czech Television.

Rescuers said the deceased man was the driver of the passenger train, which was carrying more than 100 passengers.

"He was found lifeless in his wrecked cabin," the regional rescue service wrote on its website.

Rescue crews worked through the night to locate people in the wreckage.

At least 35 people were injured, two of them severely and eight seriously, the fire rescue service said.

Mr Havlicek told Czech Radio later that the accident occurred because the driver had most probably ignored a red light.

The accident occurred after 9.30pm local time on Tuesday near the town of Cesky Brod, about 30km east of Prague, on a busy railway connecting the capital with the east of the country.

Several other minor accidents have been reported on Czech railways over the past week.

A week ago, two people died and dozens were injured when regional trains crashed in the western Czech Republic.

The trains crashed less than 1km away from Pernink station, CTK news agency reported. One of the trains was headed to Johanngeorgenstadt in Germany.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS