The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, Hilla

A train collided with a packed car at a level crossing in central Iraq, killing 13 people in the vehicle, including 11 children, a local police officer and a medic said on Monday.

The crash occurred on Sunday north of the city of Hilla in an area called Al-Sayahiyah, the police officer said on condition of anonymity.

"Thirteen people from the family of Hamid Hrat were killed when the train rammed into their car at the level crossing," he said, adding the dead children included six boys and five girls.

He said Hrat was a captain in the facility protection service, a specialised security force that guards infrastructure projects and government buildings across Iraq.

"It appears that the Opel car in which the family was travelling broke down at the level-crossing and the train coming from Basra to Baghdad crashed into it," the police officer said.

The train driver ran away after the crash, he added.

A medic from Hilla hospital confirmed receiving the bodies of the victims.

"It was a gruesome accident. The body parts of the dead were brought to the hospital yesterday. All the 13 members were killed instantly," Laith al-Massudi from the hospital told AFP.