An express train travelling at around 120 kilometres per hour smashed into a truck at a crossing south of Tokyo on Thursday, sparking a blaze and killing one person with around 30 others injured, AFP reported.

The crash has derailed the train's front carriage and pinned the truck to a wall, as it burst into flames, spewing black smoke into the air and its cargo of citrus fruit on to the tracks. The force of the impact was so severe that it shattered the train's front window and bent an overhead power line. Witnesses described an intense fire and panic among the 500 passengers on board the train as it sped through the crossing near Yokohama, south of Tokyo.