Antananarivo  - A railway accident on the Indian Ocean island of Madagascar killed six people and left around 30 others injured, some seriously, local media reported Thursday.

The accident took place Wednesday evening as the train was returning to the city of Fiarantsoa, in the southern highlands, from the eastern harbour city of Manakara, 163 kilometres away.

The train, nicknamed the Jungle Express by tourists but better known to inhabitants of the remote region it crosses as the "train of life" was braking on entering a small station when the first-class car derailed and overturned.

The dead and injured were all travelling in that car, the reports said.

The cause of the accident were not yet known.

Local media reported that the three aging locomotives used on the line had been beset by technical problems recently. (dpa)