One dead and 30 injured after train derails near The Hague

At least one person died in the derailment (Peter Dejong/AP)

One person died and 30 passengers were injured when a train derailed near The Hague in the early hours of Tuesday, sending two carriages into a field next to the track, Dutch emergency services said.

Television images showed people using makeshift bridges to cross a canal running alongside the rails to reach the train in the darkness.

Many windows in the train carriages were broken but it was not clear if that happened during the accident or as passengers attempted to escape.

Photos from the scene showed two of the bright yellow and blue train carriages perpendicular to the tracks lying across a small canal and partially in a field.

The derailment happened in the early hours (Peter Dejong/AP)

Images showed a freight train stopped close to the wreckage of the passenger train.

Injured passengers were treated in homes near the line and taken in a fleet of ambulances to hospitals, including a “calamity hospital” opened in the central city of Utrecht.

The cause of the accident that happened at around 3.25am local time in the town of Voorschoten, near The Hague, was not immediately clear. Dutch media reported that there was a small construction crane on the tracks.

The local fire brigade tweeted after the crash that it appeared to be a collision between a passenger train and “building material”.

The cause of the crash is being investigated (Peter Dejong/AP)

“A terrible train accident near Voorschoten, where unfortunately one person died and many people were injured. My thoughts are with the relatives and with all the victims. I wish them all the best,” Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte said in a tweet.

Dutch King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima also expressed their sympathy in a tweet.

Ingrid de Roos, a spokeswoman for local fire services, told news show WNL that a small fire broke out at the rear of the train but was quickly extinguished.

John Voppen, CEO of the rail network company Pro Rail, called the accident “a black day for Dutch railways” and said the cause was under investigation.