At least 20 people have been injured, some critically, when 11 train coaches derailed early on Wednesday in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, the country's fifth major rail accident in the past year and only days after 23 people were killed in another derailment.

According to Reuters, a spokesperson for Northern Railways, Neeraj Sharma, said that the Kaifiyat Express, travelling from Azamgarh to the capital, Delhi, collided with a dumper-truck carrying construction material at around 21:10 GMT, causing the coaches to derail.

Central Railway Minister, Suresh Prabhu, tweeted that several of the injured had been taken to nearby hospitals.

Last Saturday, twenty three people were killed and at least 123 were injured in Uttar Pradesh when 13 coaches of a train came off the tracks as it was heading to the Hindu holy city of Haridwar.

India's railway system is the world's fourth largest rail network, but it is grappling with chronic under-investment and over-crowding.