One person has been killed and several injured after a Dutch passenger train hit a maintenance crane and derailed.

Pictures on Dutch news websites showed four carriages lying on their side in a field after the collision, which happened at around 9.00am local time (8.00am Irish time).

It happened in Dalfsen, 120kms east of Amsterdam.

Mayor Han Noten told Dutch radio station NOS that one person had died and added that there were not many passengers on the train.

Investigators are heading to the scene to try and establish the cause of the crash.

The train was operated by Arriva, a subsidiary of German company Deutsche Bahn.

A spokesman for Arriva could not immediately be reached for comment.