Derailed Sydney Train Kills 9

A train packed with commuters derailed during rush hour Friday morning outside Sydney, killing at least nine people, seriously injuring 15 and trapping others in the wreckage. All four of the train's cars lay crumpled or toppled along the tracks.

Rescue workers were trying to extricate injured passengers from the cars in the rough terrain of a ravine 20 miles south of downtown Sydney.

After visiting the site of the accident and conferring with rescue workers, New South Wales state Premier Bob Carr said nine people were confirmed dead and more were imprisoned inside the wreckage.

"I can assure you that it's not a good scene at the moment," said police commissioner Dave Madden.

Earlier, a spokesman for a helicopter emergency service likened the scene to a battlefield.

"The scene can be only described similar to what we've seen in recent war movies ... where there are bodies just strewn around the scene," said Stephen Leahy of Westpac Lifesaver Helicopter.

The stretch of track was flanked by the steep embankments of the ravine. Doctors and paramedics were winched out of helicopters, and others were taken in army troop carriers. At least three local hospitals put on standby to take casualties.

One survivor, 21-year-old Arnouska Zehalko, told her parents it was a scene of carnage.

"She just said there were people dead and injured everywhere," said Zehalko's mother Julie, who spoke to her daughter by mobile phone.

The train, heading out of Sydney, jumped the tracks while passing through the ravine near the village of Waterfall.

Police were investigating, but would not speculate on what might have caused the crash. A retired judge was appointed to lead an inquiry into the cause.

Television images showed the front of the lead car crumpled, apparently after hitting a steel electrical pole on the side of the tracks. The next car was damaged from crashing into the first.

The two back cars were on their sides, but did not show great damage. The first rescuers used rocks to smash open glass doors on the train.

A major highway near the crash were closed to traffic so emergency services helicopters could land near the train.

"Access (to the site) is our major concern," fire brigade spokesman Ian Krimmer said.

The train, packed with commuters, was traveling from Sydney to the steel town of Port Kembla when the accident happened about 7:30 a.m. (2030 GMT).

Rescue workers said about 70 people were on board the train, which was likely traveling about 80 kilometers per hour (50 mph) when it crashed. Many passengers were believed to be students heading to Wollongong University for enrollment day.

Nonee Walsh, an Australian Broadcasting Corp. reporter who was on the train when it crashed, said it appeared to accelerate just before derailing.

"I may have been dozing but just south of Waterfall, the train seemed to just suddenly speed up to the point that the people in my carriage kind of looked up in alarm," she said. "Then it appeared to hit a corner. There was a loud bang and we went over (and) my carriage lay on its side."

Walsh suffered a suspected fractured shoulder.