At least 39 people died Monday when a passenger train jumped the tracks and plunged into a steep canyon in Montenegro.

Government officials say about 135 others were injured in the accident outside the capital Podgorica.

Medical workers, police and volunteers were hauling bodies from the 100-metre-deep ravine.

The accident happened as the four-car train emerged from a tunnel above the Moraca River near the village of Bioce.

Brakes may have failed

The Interior Minister said it appeared that the train's brakes failed.

At least 200 passengers were on the train, many of them school children returning from a ski trip.

Survivors described the train as going wildly out of control in the moments before it plunged into the ravine.

The country's transport minister has resigned as a result of the accident.