They later said they had confirmed 30 dead but expected the toll to rise. Witnesses said at least 23 foreigners on their way to beach holidays were critically injured - including Americans, Germans and Canadians - and that dozens more were unaccounted for. The overnight train, popular among tourists travelling from Nairobi to Kenya`s spectacular Indian Ocean coastal resorts near Mombasa, derailed near a junction called Man-eaters around 300 km (200 miles) southeast of the Kenyan capital. The junction is named after two lions which ate dozens of workers when the railway was being built in the last century. Survivors of the accident said the train was barrelling along at high speed when it jumped the tracks, flipping one carriage upside down and at least four others onto their sides. "One of the carriages in third class was thrown upside down and that is where the people

died," said Michael Greenwood, a 59-year-old U.S. citizen from Fort Lauderdale, Fla. They said survivors were unable to escape through the train

doors so had to break windows to free themselves. "All the doors were locked and nobody had the keys to unlock them," Greenwood said. A French embassy official said 86 French nationals were on the train but it was not known if any were hurt. A Kenyan air force plane airlifted 23 critically injured foreigners to Nairobi`s Wilson Airport. One woman constantly moaned in pain as they were taken off the aircraft on stretchers and rushed to Nairobi`s main hospital. Others were bloodied and bruised. A spokeswoman for the African Medical Research Foundation (Amref) private medical charity said it believed around 400 passengers were on the train when it derailed at about 4:30 a.m. (0130 GMT) and that most of the dead were travelling in the third class section. It was not clear how many tourists were on the train but they generally travel in the first or second class sections while the third class section is used by poorer Kenyans. Kenya`s police, army and National Disaster Committee were leading the rescue effort with help from Amref and the Kenyan Red Cross. Amref said it was flying down three small planes with doctors and medical supplies and the Kenyan Red Cross was sending in first aid volunteers and medical supplies by road.