A train in northern India has derailed, killing at least 142 people and injuring dozens more.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh said the overnight express train travelling between the cities of Patna and Indore came off the tracks near Kanpur city.

More than 2,000 passengers were on board the train when fourteen carriages left the tracks, railway officials said.

Image: More than 2,000 people were on the train, officials said

Two senior police officials in Kanpur said their teams have pulled out at least 100 bodies from the badly damaged carriages.

"Still many more passengers are trapped," a senior railway official in New Delhi said.


Anguished beyond words on the loss of lives due to the derailing of the Patna-Indore express. My thoughts are with the bereaved families. — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) November 20, 2016

Passenger Ramchandra Tewari said: "There was a loud sound like an earthquake. I fell from my berth and a lot of luggage fell over me.

"I thought I was dead, and then I passed out."

Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his condolences on Twitter.

"Anguished beyond words on the loss of lives due to the derailing of the Patna-Indore express. My thoughts are with the bereaved families," he wrote.

Image: Rescue workers survey the wreckage of the train

Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu said the government would immediately investigate the causes of the derailment and promised accountability with the "strictest possible action".

India's railway system is the world's fourth largest, ferrying more than 20 million people each day, but it has a poor safety record, with thousands of people dying in accidents every year.

The nation suffers frequent train derailments, sometimes with tragic consequences, including another train accident in Uttar Pradesh in March last year that killed 39 people.