Train-truck collision kills 18

A Tunisian passenger train smashed into a semitrailer truck racing to cross the tracks, killing 18 people as two cars derailed.

At least 86 people were injured when the train hit the truck at 6:30 a.m. outside the town of Fahs, 37 miles southwest of the capital, Tunis, authorities said.

New reports initially said the truck driver was among the dead, but Lt. Col. Selmi Yousfi said the driver escaped when he saw the train barreling toward him at about 80 mph, and later surrendered.

Some of the passengers were ejected upon impact, an emergency services official said. The train engineer was among those who died.