PLEASE NOTE: EDIT CONTAINS CONVERTED 4:3 MATERIAL

The operator of the train which derailed en route to the Canadian city of Toronto says at least three people have been killed.

VIA Rail officials said many more have been injured.

SOUNDBITE: John Marginson, Chief Executive Officer of Via Rail saying (English):

"There were 45 passengers injured, three of those 45 severely injured, one crew member in the body of the train was injured and three locomotive engineers are deceased."

A team of investigators from the Transportation Safety Board of Canada is trying to establish the cause of the accident.

Passengers who escaped unscathed from the wreckage spoke of their shock.

SOUNDBITE: Dana Dillella, passenger, saying (English):

"We came to a stop and I thought we were just like when you bump and you king of move tracks, then it got worse and then the train flipped on its side and it just kept going like, it was almost like a plane crash."

SOUNDBITE: Allison Van Wallis, passenger, saying (English):

"This is my first time and my parents usually drive me to Toronto and then I take a train to Montreal so this is the first time I did it and I'm never going to do it again."

The train was travelling from Niagara Falls to Toronto when the crash happened on Sunday near Burlington in southern Ontario.

Paul Chapman, Reuters