TEHRAN- At least 21 people have died and 80 more were injured on Wednesday morning after a passenger train derailed and crashed into an excavator in Tabas, eastern Iran.

The incident occurred at 5:30 a.m local time, IRNA reported. Around 350 passengers were on board at the time of the accident.

The derailment took place some 50 kilometers from the desert city of Tabas, on the rail that connects the town with the central city of Yazd.

The exact cause of the accident was not immediately known.

MG