A passenger train has derailed in northern India, killing 31 people and injuring dozens more.

Rescuers were using cutters to rip apart the mangled wreckage to search for trapped people.

Rescue workers pulled 31 bodies from the wreckage, said Ashwini Srivastava, a spokesman for the railways, and at least 50 more were injured.

The engine and two coaches of the Janata Express jumped off the tracks near Bachhrawan village in Uttar Pradesh state.

Several people were feared trapped in the wreckage, and rescue efforts were focused on bringing them out alive, said Ram Murath Yadav, a police official at the site of the accident.

One of the derailed coaches was crushed by the impact and most of the casualties were in that coach, he said.

The federal rail ministry has ordered an inquiry.

The driver of the train escaped unhurt and was being questioned, Mr Srivastava said.