Train derails in HK during rush hour

HONG KONG: A passenger train derailed during the morning rush hour in Hong Kong on Tuesday leaving eight people injured, authorities said.

Images from the scene showed three carriages off the tracks and zigzagged across the rails near Hung Hom station in Kowloon -- a busy interchange that provides services to mainland China.

Passengers had to leave the train through a broken door and cross tracks on the East Rail Line to make their way to safety. Five hundred passengers had been evacuated from the train. Eight passengers reported injuries when they arrived at the concourse of the station, according to authorities.

The cause of the derailment was still under investigation but there was no immediate suggestion of foul play after previous attacks by pro-democracy protesters on the city´s mass transit system.

"We would not rule out any possibility but at this stage we won´t speculate on any particular suggestions," the city´s transport chief Frank Chan told reporters.