Rescue and recovery operations under way after a passenger train collides with a cargo train in Bhairab city, in eastern Bangladesh.

The crash in the city of Bhairab saw a cargo train smash into a passenger train from the rear, derailing two passenger carriages, officials said on Monday.

“We have recovered 17 bodies. More than 100 people were injured,” said Sadiqur Rahman, a government administrator in Bhairab, which lies around 80km (50 miles) northeast of the capital Dhaka.

Local police chief Rasel Sheikh confirmed the death toll, citing rescuers at the scene, and said more than 50 wounded people were sent to different hospitals.

Rahman said the death toll was expected to rise, the AFP news agency reported, with rescuers reporting they could see bodies crushed and trapped under overturned coaches.

It was not immediately clear how many people were trapped.

The collision happened at 3:30pm local time (09:30 GMT), when the cargo train heading to Chattogram struck the rear two cars of the Dhaka-bound Egarosindhur Godhuli Express passenger train, Azizul Haque Rajon, a senior fire official, told the Associated Press news agency.

Television footage showed hundreds of people gathered at the scene where rescuers were cutting part of a carriage to recover injured people from inside it. One of the carriages was seen shattered and overturned.

Railway services were suspended throughout the region following the accident, officials said.

It was not immediately clear what caused the crash.