1 dead, more than 30 injured after train and truck collide in Japan's Yokohama

Rescue team work at the crash site, where a train is derailed after a collision with a truck at a crossing in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecturem Sep 5, 2019. (Photo: AFP/Jiji Press)

The accident, which halted services on a busy rail link to the capital Tokyo, smashed the glass in the driver's compartment and derailed three of the train's eight carriages, video images showed, leaving the lead carriage badly twisted.

"Emergency crews took 30 injured people into care. Of those, two had sustained serious injuries. Of those severely injured, the hospital has confirmed the death of one person," a fire department official told reporters at the scene.

The truck, carrying fruit, was crushed between the train and a wall and caught fire immediately after the accident. Smashed boxes and what looked like oranges and lemons littered the track as rescuers crowded the site.

The truck driver, a man in his 60s, died, fire officials said, while a woman was seriously hurt and three had less grievous injuries, with others suffering superficial wounds.

"The sound of glass breaking was incredible," one passenger told national broadcaster NHK. "By the time I knew what had happened, the carriage was all smashed up."

According to the Keikyu train company operating the service, the driver said he had applied the emergency brake but was too late to prevent the collision.

One passenger quoted by NHK said she heard the train's whistle blow for a long time before she felt the crash.

Authorities, including the transport ministry, said they were investigating the cause but were unable to provide further details.

"The maximum speed there is set at 120kmh and we believe the train was travelling as fast as that," a Keikyu spokesman, who declined to be named, told AFP.

"There is an abnormality detection system there for emergencies and cases such as a truck getting stuck on the crossing. This system kicked in and an alarm signal was flickering," added the spokesman.

"IT WAS A PANIC"

Eyewitnesses spoke of a fierce fire and panic, with TV images showing terrified passengers streaming from the carriages after the collision.

One man who was travelling in the first carriage told national broadcaster NHK there was a "sudden sound" and that the impact left people in heaps.

"I saw flames. Then the fire became more and more intense. So everyone rushed to get outside. It was a panic," this eyewitness said.

Another person who witnessed the scene said there were flames coming from the bottom of the truck and that the "smoke was awful."

The accident, which halted trains on the commuter line, happened near a station used by more than 19,000 people every day, the train operator said. There was no word on when services might resume.

Japanese trains have a well-deserved reputation for safety and punctuality and accidents are rare.

Earlier this year, 14 people suffered light injuries when a driverless train in suburban Tokyo went the wrong way and smashed into the buffers.

In April 2005, a speeding commuter train near Osaka jumped the tracks on a tight bend during the morning rush hour and smashed into an apartment tower. The driver and 106 passengers were killed and more than 550 people were injured.

The crash was Japan's worst rail disaster since 1963 when 161 people died in Yokohama after a freight train collided with a truck and was then hit by two passenger trains.

Japan's deadliest train accident was in February 1947 when a passenger train derailed near Tokyo, killing 184 people and injuring nearly 500.