Nairobi/Dar es Salaam  - At least 15 people have died after a passenger train ploughed into a stationary cargo train in Tanzania, reports said Monday.

Local officials said that more people were believed to be trapped in the wreckage and that the death toll could rise.

The Tanzanian newspaper The Citizen Daily said that Infrastructure Development Minister Shukuru Kawambwa blamed the accident on negligence.

"The two drivers involved and the stationmasters should be arrested immediately and appropriate action taken against them," the newspaper quoted him as saying.

The accident took place in the Mpawapwa District, close to where a 2002 collision between two trains killed close to 300 people. (dpa)