Belgian rescue workers are continuing their search for victims of Monday's train crash in which at least 18 people were killed and 160 injured.

The crash near Halle, just south of Brussels, was initially said to be a head-on collision, but it has since become clear that the trains hit each other sideways at a point in the rails. One of the trains may have ignored a red sign. Flemish television reports that a third train only barely avoided a crash by making an emergency stop.

Traffic on the line is blocked and the high-speed train service between Amsterdam and Paris has been suspended. Eurostar services to the United Kingdom are also being affected. It may be days yet before the wreckage of the two trains is lifted from the track.

A wildcat strike by a number of Belgian train drivers who say the accident has left them too emotional to work has only added to the disruption.