At least 36 people have died and more than 72 others have been injured after a train derailed in eastern Taiwan, officials have said.

The train, carrying around 350 people, is believed to have come off the rails in a tunnel just north of Hualien causing some carriages to hit the wall of the tunnel.

Between 80 and 100 people have been evacuated from the first four carriages of the train, while carriages five to eight have “deformed” and are hard to gain access to, firefighters said.

Rescue efforts are ongoing, they added.

The official Central News Agency said a truck that was “not parked properly” was suspected of sliding into the path of the train.

“Our train crashed into a truck,” one man said in a video aired on Taiwanese television, showing pictures of the wreckage. “The truck came falling down.”

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