Czech firefighters are battling a major blaze in eastern Czech Republic after a freight train derailed and carcinogenic benzene from damaged tank wagons caught fire.

Authorities in the Czech Republic announced Saturday that a fire caused by the derailment of a freight train carrying benzene had been extinguished. A fire brigade spokesman told Noviny.cz that several small fires were put out overnight at the site of Friday's accident near Hustopeče nad Bečvou.