A high-speed train has crashed in northern Germany, killing at least eighty people and injuring about two-hundred.

The train -- going from Munich to Hamburg -- was travelling at two-hundred kilometres-an-hour when it left the rails and crashed into a road bridge.

The bridge, near the village of Eschede, then collapsed on the carriages.

Officials say it's the worst rail accident in Germany for fifty years, and the first involving recently-introduced inter-city expresses.

The injured were being airlifted to hospital as rescue workers searched for any remaining survivors.

A car was found in the wreckage; it's not known if it contributed to the accident.