Taipei- Two maintenance cars collided during test runs on Taiwan's high-speed rail system on Saturday, leaving eight Taiwan engineers and two German engineers injured, one seriously.

The crash occurred in the early hours of Saturday morning at Yanchao, Kaohsiung County, south Taiwan, when the two maintenance cars were undergoing tests before their formal delivery to the Taiwan High Speed Rail Corporation.

The two German-made cars running on opposite lines collided, leaving a total of 10 engineers in both cars with multiple injuries.

The injured were rushed to several hospitals for treatment, and one Taiwan engineer remains in serious condition, online newspaper NOWnews. com reported.

Chia Hsien-teh, vice president of the Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp, apologized for the incident.

"We are still investigating the cause of the incident, to see if it was weather, a mechanical problem or human neglect caused the collision," he told a news conference. (dpa)