Five people were killed and more than 10 injured when a pickup truck crashed into a train in southern Hungary early on Tuesday, derailing a carriage, police said.

The accident happened at a crossing in Mindszent near the Hungarian-Serbian border shortly before 0500 GMT.

Five people in the truck were killed and there were injuries both among those in the truck and on the train, a police spokesperson told Reuters.

The truck was registered in Hungary and was carrying local workers, she added.

Local news site delmagyar.hu showed a photograph with the train carriage on its side, and a helicopter ambulance and several ambulance cars at the scene.

The state railway company said a train on its way from Kiskunfelegyhaza to Hodmezovasarhely had crashed with a truck, derailing a carriage with 22 passengers, of whom two were severely injured and a further eight lightly injured.

The truck drove onto the tracks, ignoring the red lights, it said.