Image copyright TAIWAN RAILWAY ADMINISTRATION / HANDOUT Image caption Rescue operations are continuing into the night
At least 18 people have been killed and 170 injured in a passenger train derailment in north-east Taiwan.
Railway authorities say they are investigating the accident, which happened in Yilan County at about 16:50 local time (08:50 GMT) on Sunday.
A total of 366 people were on the train travelling between Taipei and the eastern county of Taitung when all eight of its carriages derailed.
The authorities now say they have freed everyone from the wreckage.
The Puyuma Express 6432 service reportedly came off the tracks close to Xinma station, near the town of Su'ao about 70km (43 miles) from Taipei.
The deputy chief of the Taiwan Railways Administration, Lu Chieh-shen, told a news conference on Sunday that the train was only six years old and had been in "pretty good condition" before the accident.
It is not immediately clear what caused the train to derail, but witnesses told local media they heard a loud noise then sparks and smoke.
Emergency medical responders and firefighters are helping the injured and the defence ministry says it has sent 120 soldiers to help with rescue efforts.
Witnesses reported having to break windows to escape the carriages, and dozens of injured have been transported to local hospitals.
Image copyright AFP Image caption Authorities say five of the train's eight carriages ended up on their side
An AFP news agency reporter at the scene said more bodies were being removed from the damaged carriages at about 20:00 local time (12:00 GMT) on Sunday night.
Reports say an American citizen was lightly injured in the accident.
Photographs from the scene show seats upended, with parts of the railway tracks twisted through carriage windows in places.
Taiwan's leader, Tsai Ing-wen, described the accident as a "major tragedy" on Twitter.
"My thoughts are with all the victims and their families," she added.
Taiwan has an extensive train network and more than half a million passengers travel on the system every day.
At around 4:50 p.m. local time (0850 UTC) on Sunday, at least eighteen passengers were killed and, by varying reports, more than another 170 injured after a train derailed in  in northeast Taiwan. It was the most deaths in a train crash in Taiwan in 27 years. The  was transporting 366 people when the accident occurred, according to the railways administration. On Sunday authorities said an investigation was underway to determine the cause of the incident.
Evacuation through a window at 18:16.
Photo of the train wreck at 18:21. 

Traveling between  and , the train's eight carriages derailed around Xinma station.

According to Associated Press, locals assisted passengers to escape through the windows of the train before the emergency response team arrived. Emergency workers and roughly 120 soldiers worked to free survivors from the wreckage.

Injured passengers were transported to four different hospitals for treatment, ''The New York Times'' reported.

The train's conductor, according to , reported some sort of object was on the tracks and might have derailed the train. Transport ministry officials said on Monday the train driver had reported abnormally low pressure in the brakes of the train 20 minutes before the crash.

This incident exceeded the fatality count of seventeen in a train derailing at ,  in 2003. Previously 30 passengers died and 112 were injured as a result of a train collision in  in 1991.



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