In a major incident, at least five people were killed and over 20 people sustained injuries after a goods train crashed into the Kanchanjunga Express from behind in West Bengal's New Jalpaiguri on Monday morning.

Reports suggest that at least two bogies of the Kanchanjunga Express were derailed after the collision.

"Five passengers have died, 20-25 injured in the accident. The situation is serious. The incident occurred when a goods train rammed into Kanchenjunga Express," Abhishek Roy, Additional SP of Darjeeling Police told ANI.

The mishap took place about 11 km from New Jalpaiguri station in north Bengal at around 8.30 am. Notably, New Jalpaiguri station is one of the largest and busiest stations in Northeast Frontier Railway zone in eastern and northeastern India.

According to reports, the train was coming from Agartala and en route to Sealdah station in Kolkata.

The death toll is expected to rise as rescue operations are underway.