Jane Onyanga-Omara

USA TODAY

At least 31 people were killed and about 80 injured Friday when two passenger trains collided and sparked a fire in northern Iran.

Pictures from the scene showed smoke billowing from smoldering cars.

State TV reported that a moving passenger train hit a train that had stopped at the Haft-Khan station in the the city of Shahroud, Semnan province, in subzero temperatures.

Initial reports said that eight people were killed. Mohammad Reza Khabbaz,the provincial governor, later said that 31 bodies have been found so far, the Associated Press reported.

Mostafa Mortazavi, a spokesman for Iran's Red Crescent, told the semi-official Fars news agency that rescuers have been sent to the scene and that the cause of the crash is being investigated.