Carriages had flipped over entirely and rescue workers searched to pull out survivors trapped in the mangled wreckage, with scores of bodies laid out under white sheets beside the tracks.

Thick black smoke and flames can be seen billowing from the building in Jalan Gasing.

The school bus carrying 45 students overturned after being hit from behind by a truck in Eynesbury, about 40km west of state capital Melbourne.

Without earnest self-reflection, it will be difficult to set in motion a roadmap to avoid a replay of senseless tragedies such as the recent drowning of a four-year-old child.

Renner has said he was driving the plow after using it to pull one of the family's trucks out of the snow and onto pavement.

At least 19 have been taken to hospital.

He says he was awake 'through every moment'.

The protests were accompanied by a 24-hour strike – the biggest yet since the disaster – this time called by Greece's leading private as well as public sector unions.

The accident occurred when a passenger train entering Qalyub station went through a stop signal.

The train, travelling from Athens to the northern city of Thessaloniki, was packed with university students returning after a long holiday weekend.

Police clashed with some of the demonstrators at a handful of protests, as public anger grew over the role that government mismanagement played in the tragedy.

No casualties have been reported, while 130 affected residents have been relocated to a safe distance.