Tanzania train wreck kills 110

DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania (CNN) -- Authorities in Tanzania were struggling Monday to figure out how to deal with hundreds of casualties from a major train collision.

At least 110 people were confirmed dead, and many of the 400 people hurt were critically injured.

Rescue and recovery efforts at the scene of the train collision in central Tanzania were moving ahead slowly because of a lack of equipment.

Many rescuers were using ordinary saws to cut through metal on the train to try to free those trapped inside.

The accident occurred about 30 miles southeast of Dodoma when a passenger train lost its brakes -- rolling backward out of control -- and collided with a cargo train Monday, said a spokesperson for the Tanzania Railways Corp.

The hospital in Dodoma, the country's official capital, was ill-equipped to handle the casualties. Officials in Dodoma mobilized all available vehicles to help transport the injured to the commercial capital, Dar es Salaam.

The government designated Tuesday and Wednesday as days of mourning.

The train was traveling from Dar es Salaam to Mwanza, south of Lake Victoria in western Tanzania when the crash occurred at 11:30 a.m. (4:30 a.m. ET).

The engineer of the 20-car train stopped to inspect the brakes after detecting a problem, according to accounts. After making an adjustment to the brakes, the engineer decided to back up the train to gain momentum to climb a hill.

As the train rolled backward, the engineer discovered the brakes would not work. The train rolled about 20 miles before hitting the freight train, which was standing still. The impact caused 17 of the passenger cars to derail.

-- Journalist Hamza Kassongo contributed to this story.