OSAKA -- At least 71 people died and 441 others were injured Monday when five cars of a seven-car train derailed, sending two cars slamming into an apartment building in Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture, police and firefighters said.

The accident occurred at around 9:20 a.m. near a railway crossing between Amagasaki and Tsukaguchi stations on West Japan Railway Co.'s Fukuchiyama Line.

The first and second cars of the train crashed into the ground floor of the nine-story apartment building about 6 meters from the curved tracks and were destroyed.