Train Collision in Malaysia Injures Over 200 People

More than 200 people were injured in Malaysia’s largest city, Kuala Lumpur, on Monday when a train full of passengers collided head-on in a tunnel with another train on a test run, the authorities said.

A preliminary investigation indicated that the collision occurred because the driver operating the test was going the wrong direction, Malaysia’s transportation minister, Wee Ka Siong, told reporters on Tuesday afternoon.

The trains were traveling at speeds of 12 to 25 miles an hour when they crashed on Monday evening. The authorities said all 213 passengers were hurt, including 47 who suffered serious injuries. No fatalities were reported.

Hours after the crash, Malaysia’s prime minister, Muhyiddin Yassin, called for a “full investigation” in a post on his Facebook page. “I take this accident seriously,” he said.

Photos and videos of the scene posted on social media showed injured passengers lying on the floor of the train and others lying on stretchers outside as paramedics treated them and put them in ambulances. Many other passengers sat nearby. Several had their heads wrapped in bandages.

Mr. Wee, the transportation minister, said that the accident was the first head-on collision in the 23-year history of the city’s Light Rail Transit system.

The trains are automated and typically operate without a driver. But the train that was on a test run, identified as TR40, was under the control of a driver, the only person aboard.

“Preliminary investigations indicate that the accident was the result of carelessness of the hostler who drove TR40 in the wrong direction,” said Mr. Wee, referring to the driver.

<p class="css-axufdj