Story highlights

"We flew over the compartment like bags," one victim says

As many as 60 people are injured

The rescue operation is "difficult and complicated," a firefighter says

CNN  — 

Two passenger trains collided in southwestern Poland late Saturday, leaving several dead and dozens more injured, the country’s state railway said.

The incident occurred around 9 p.m. CET Saturday (3 p.m. ET) in Szczekociny. Video from the scene showed rescue operations under way early Sunday amid the twisted, mangled wreckage.

“I felt the blow. I hit the person before me. The lights went out. Everything flew,” one victim told CNN’s Polish affiliate TVN. “We flew over the compartment like bags. We could hear screams. We prayed.”

Information posted on the Polish State Railways website put the death toll at eight people, with 60 others injured. CNN affiliate TVN reported a death toll at 14, citing the country’s interior minister, Jacek Cichocki.

One firefighter described the rescue operation as “difficult and complicated.”

“The damage (to) the wagons is huge. We have contact with victims. We approach very cautiously,” firefighter Jaroslaw Wojtasik told TVN.

More than 100 passengers who were not injured in the collision were evacuated to Warsaw, the railway said.

CNN’s Karen Smith and Elizabeth Chmurak contributed to this report.