At least 53 dead in Cameroon train crash

A train derailment in Cameroon has left at least 53 people dead and nearly 300 injured, the country's transport minister says.

Fifty-three people have been killed and nearly 300 injured when a packed passenger train travelling between Cameroon's two largest cities derailed and overturned, the transport minister says.

Speaking on state radio, Edgar Alain Mebe Ngo'o said the figures represented a provisional toll from Friday's accident, which occurred near the train station in the town of Eseka, around 120km west of Yaounde.