One person was killed and at least thirty others were injured, 19 of them seriously, on Tuesday in Voorschoten, between The Hague and Amsterdam in the south of the Netherlands , due to a high-speed passenger train derailing, according to emergency services.

"One person was killed and at least 30 were injured, and the seriously injured were taken to hospital, while 11 were taken to nearby homes," the same source said.

The train derailed at around 03:30 (01:30 GMT) after it collided with building equipment on the tracks in this town located in the northeastern suburb of The Hague, according to the same source.

The two-decker train was making a trip between Amsterdam and The Hague with 60 passengers.

The emergency services indicated that "experts are working to secure the perimeter of the train," explaining that the cause of the accident is "under investigation."

Scenes from the scene and reports showed the front trailer ending up in a field, while a second trailer overturned.

A third trailer caught fire, according to Dutch news agency ANP.

"We heard a bang first, then a much stronger bang," Chris Van Engelenburg, 36, a local resident, told AFP. "After that, we heard people screaming."

Train traffic on this high-traffic line, which is used by trains from Amsterdam to Brussels and Paris, has been halted and will only resume in the afternoon, according to railway company officials.

DB Cargo, which operates the train, said the electric locomotive was badly damaged, but the driver underwent a medical examination and was in "good" condition.

"The train accident was horrific," said Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, stressing, "Unfortunately, one person died and many were injured."

"My thoughts are with all the victims and their relatives," he wrote on Twitter.

"It's a dark day for the Dutch railways," said John Voppen, general manager of Dutch rail company ProRail.

Ambulances and a helicopter rushed to the scene to evacuate the seriously wounded. The severity of their injuries was not immediately known.

"The damage is massive, I've never seen anything like this before. But fortunately it doesn't happen very often in the Netherlands," ProRail spokesman Jeroen Wienen told AFP at the scene.

"Several different investigations have started now, and we want to know exactly what happened," he added.

He pointed out that the railway at the site and the electric lines were damaged.

An eyewitness, who did not reveal his identity, told the local TV station, "Europe Fest", "We heard a bang and the electricity suddenly went out."

The man, who showed signs of shock, added, "We were not able to get out immediately from the train because there was no electricity anymore (...) We were finally able to get out after it felt like hours had passed."

King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands and Queen Maxime said they "deeply sympathize" with the victims, stressing that "many people are now living in a state of fear and uncertainty".

The worst train accident in the Netherlands dates back to January 8, 1962, when two trains collided in Harmeln, near Utrecht in the center of the country, killing 93 people and injuring 52 others.

The accident occurred while the area was surrounded by thick fog, and the driver of one of the two trains did not notice a warning light, and collided head-on with the second train.

In 2016, one person was killed and six injured when a train collided with a crane in central Holland.

One person was killed and 117 injured in a collision near Amsterdam in April 2012, and later reports indicated that the driver had failed to respect the stop sign.