Australian train runs into station buffer, injuring 16 people

SYDNEY -- Sixteen people were injured after a train hit a buffer at a terminus station northwest of Sydney in Australia's New South Wales state on Monday morning, ambulance and transport authorities said.

The most serious injury in the incident in the Richmond area involved a 21-year-old man who suffered a suspected leg fracture, while the rest of the victims suffered mostly cuts, bruises, back and neck pain, the state ambulance's incident commander, Superintendent Paul Turner, told Xinhua.

"No patients were trapped by compression, however several patients were classified as trapped as they were unable to leave the train without assistance from paramedics," said Turner.

"These people are very lucky, it was chaos, things could've been much much worse."

Fifteen ambulance vehicles were deployed to the scene, together with two rescue helicopters, with the patients taken to four hospitals in the region.

"Safety is our number one priority and we will now work to determine what caused the incident," the state's Transport and Infrastructure Minister Andrew Constance said in a statement.

"As with accidents of this nature, investigators will start work immediately from the Office of Transport Safety Investigations, the Office of National Rail Safety Regulator and Safe Work NSW."

The incident occurred two weeks after state capital Sydney was hit by major rail disruptions, which authorities blamed on bad weather and staffing issues.

A meeting between representatives from rail operator Sydney Trains and the state's transport union, which had voted for a Jan. 29 strike following failed negotiations over wage increases, was suspended following the incident on Monday morning, according to local media. The negotiations were set to continue later in the day, the ABC News channel reported.

"I know that's (the Richmond train incident) being managed well by all involved, it's time now to engage with the trade unions and get on with the job of concluding this pay dispute," The Australian newspaper quoted Sydney Trains chief executive Howard Collins telling reporters as he headed for the meeting on Monday.

"I know all parties are doing everything they can to prevent the action from going ahead next Monday," the paper quoted the state's Premier Gladys Berejiklian as saying.