At least 36 dead and dozens injured in deadliest Taiwan train accident.

At least 36 people were killed and dozens more were injured when a train derailed in Taiwan on Friday after apparently hitting a truck.

The train was carrying around 350 people, the country's fire department said.

The official Central News Agency said a truck "not parked properly" was suspected of sliding into the path of the train. The fire department showed a picture of what appeared to be the truck's wreckage next to the derailed train.

The express service traveling from the capital Taipei to Taitung on the southeast coast came off the rails north of Hualien in eastern Taiwan, the fire department said.

More than 40 people have already been taken to hospital and others injured are in the process of being taken to hospital, with around 70 reported trapped in train carriages.

Between 80 to 100 people were evacuated from the first four carriages of the train, while carriages five to eight have "deformed" and are hard to gain access to, it added.

"Is everyone out in carriage four?" a lady is heard shouting from inside the tunnel, in images provided by the fire department.

The accident occurred at the start of a long weekend for the traditional Tomb Sweeping Day.

In 2018, 18 people died and 175 were injured when a train derailed in northeastern Taiwan. In 1981, 30 were killed in a collision in northern Taiwan.

With files from Reuters and MSNBC