Watch the BBC's David Shukman's report from the crash scene

The train was travelling from Munich to Hamburg when it went off the rails just before 11am (0900 GMT) on Wednesday in Eschede, 35 miles (50km) north of Hanover.

Nearly 300 people were injured, 200 of them seriously, officials said.

Rescuers fight to free survivors

The train, carrying some 400 people, was travelling at about 200 kilometres per hour (125mph) when the accident happened.

Officials say a car was found under the wreckage, which seemed to have been pushed some way along the tracks by the train before it derailed.

There are unconfirmed reports that the car had crashed through barriers on a bridge above the tracks before falling into the train's path.

Joachin Lindenburg of Celle police speaking about the crash

A police spokesman said 13 train carriages left the tracks.

The first four carriages of the train hit the support pillar of the overpass and telescoped into each other, witnesses said.

The bridge then collapsed onto the wreckage of the train.

Rescuers, including 20 British soldiers and army doctors from a nearby base at Celle, fought to free victims.

A police spokesman described the scene as "a disaster zone".

'Worst crash in decades'

The BBC's Caroline Wyatt reporting from Bonn

This was the worst train crash in Germany for decades, according to officials, and the first involving an InterCity Express, or ICE.

More than 100 trains of this type were introduced on the national German railway network in the early 1990s and, until now, all have had an exemplary safety record.

Express trains carry up to 760 passengers in 14 carriages and can reach speeds of 300km/h.

The ICE has dramatically cut most journey times between German cities, with rail travel up more than 30% since the trains were introduced.