A train derailed and overturned in the Alps in southern Germany on Friday, killing at least four people and injuring many others, police said.

       The Munich-bound DB Regio train derailed at around 12.15pm local time in Burgrain, near the ski resort town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, according to the Oberbayern Sud police office.

       Some carriages ended up on their side in the accident, close to the Austrian border.

       Thirty passengers were wounded, 16 of them seriously, according to the Garmisch-Partenkirchen municipal office.

       Rescuers standing on an overturned carriage in Burgrain, near Garmisch-Partekirchen, southern Germany

       (NETWORK PICTURES/AFP via Getty)

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       Three helicopters from the Tyrol region of Austria were involved in the rescue operation.

       The German fire service helped to pull passengers through windows from the overturned carriages, aided by many police who were stationed in Garmisch-Partenkirchen because of the G7 summit being held later this month at nearby Schloss Elmau.

       Rescue operation after the train accident in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany

       (AP)

       Regional trains have seen higher passenger numbers this month as a discounted ticket allowing Germany-wide travel went on sale.

       A driver who witnessed the accident from a nearby road said the scene was “just awful”.

       “It was terrible,” he told the Garmisch Partenkirchner Tagblatt. “Suddenly the train overturned.”