Many dead and injured in Taiwan train derailment

At least 34 people were killed and dozens injured when a passenger train smashed into a vehicle on its tracks and partially derailed outside a rail tunnel in Taiwan on Friday.

The crash occurred near the Toroko Gorge scenic area around 0900 local time on a public holiday, and officials in Hualien county said rescue efforts were continuing.

Media reported 350 passengers were on board.

Survivors had to climb out windows and onto roofs to reach safety in the island's worst railway disaster in decades.

Reports suggested that a truck or some type of service vehicle fell from a cliff and landed on the tracks, where the train smashed into it as it emerged from a tunnel.

With much of the train still trapped in the tunnel, escaping passengers were forced to scale doors, windows and roofs to reach safety.

The vehicle apparently hit after the locomotive had emerged, causing the greatest damage to cars 1-5, according to the rescue department of Hualien county.

The accident came on the first day of the annual four-day Tomb Sweeping Festival, when people travel to their hometowns for family gatherings and to worship at the graves of their ancestors.