Netherlands train crash: Scores injured in Amsterdam Published duration 21 April 2012

media caption Passenger Giovanni Laisina said the trains were busy because the shops had just closed

About 125 people have been injured, at least 13 of them seriously, when two passenger trains collided in the Amsterdam area, Dutch officials say.

They say the accident happened near Sloterdijk, to the west of the capital.

Neither train was derailed, and footage from the scene appeared to show minor damage.

The injured were taken to hospital by ambulance. It was not immediately known what caused the head-on collision on Saturday evening.

The crash involving an inter-city train and a local stopping service happened at about 18:30 local time (16:30 GMT).

"We assume many people were thrown around the train by the crash: against walls, seats and other people," police spokesman Ed Kraszewski told Amsterdam's AT5 news station.

He added that some of the victims had broken bones and also sustained neck injuries.

All the passengers were later helped out of the carriages.

One of the trains was serving the cities of Den Helder and Nijmegen, while the other ran between Amsterdam and Uitgeest, railway official said.

The accident happened at a busy part of the Dutch rail network, disrupting services between Amsterdam and The Hague and also to Schiphol airport.