TAIPEI / Beijing - At least five people were killed and 107 injured after a small train carrying mostly mainland tourists overturned in a mountainous region of southern Taiwan on Wednesday.

Rescuers treat the injured after a train crash on the Alishan Forest Railway, Chiayi county, Taiwan on Wednesday. At least five people were killed and 107 injured when a falling tree derailed the train at the popular mountain spot. Officials said that they did not know what caused the tree to fall as there had been no rain in the area recently. [Photo/China Daily]

The accident raised safety concerns at a time when tourists from the mainland are close to being allowed to visit the island individually and not as part of tour groups.

Liu Kezhi, director of the Cross-Strait Tourism Exchange Association's Taipei office, said local authorities have dispatched two helicopters to help firefighters and local residents in the rescue.

Ma Ying-jeou, the island's leader, said he felt "very saddened by the accident", adding that a thorough investigation into the causes of the disaster will be carried out.

Four of the train's eight cars overturned after a large tree fell on the train in the Alishan nature reserve. The Taiwan tourism authority said 130 mainlanders from Sichuan, Guangdong and Shandong provinces were on the train, which carried 350 tourists and tour guides.

The driver said he "pressed down on the brake pedal when he heard a crack from nearby trees". The train was then on an upward slope and going 10 kilometers an hour.

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Following the disaster, cross-Straits tourism authorities, the Taiwan Strait Tourism Association and the Cross-Strait Tourism Exchange Association, put a system used to respond to emergencies into effect.

Liu visited the accident victims at a local hospital on Wednesday evening and said relatives of the dead will be able to receive 2 million NT$ ($69,000) in compensation. He encouraged island authorities to try their best to take care of the injured mainland tourists.

Relatives of the deceased mainland tourists will fly to the island to deal with various matters that have arisen from the accident, China Central Television reported.

Chen Wu-hsiung, leading official of the island's agriculture authority, said island authorities will pay the medical expenses incurred by the victims and their families. To answer questions from the public, the authority has set up a 24-hour hotline, which can be reached by calling 0800-057-930.

Medics carry a wounded victim from the site. [Photo/China Daily]

Taiwan's forestry authority said it is not known what caused the tree to collapse suddenly, noting that it has not rained heavily recently and the weather has been good.

The authority said the train has ceased operating until safety concerns can be assuaged. To prevent the accident from recurring, the authority said it will send officers to check trees near the rails.

Ctrip, one of China's leading online travel services, told China Daily that the company will adjust the routes taken by tour groups bound for Taiwan and will cancel trips to Alishan for the foreseeable future.

The Alishan rail line, running east from the southern county of Chiayi, corkscrews through steep mountains that reach an altitude of 2,200 meters and has long been one of Taiwan's premier tourist attractions.

The railway was completed in 1911 to provide a means of carrying lumber out of the mountain.

Wednesday's tragedy happened just hours after a senior mainland official had announced that individual mainland tourists will be allowed to go to Taiwan.

Yang Yi, spokesman for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, told a news conference the mainland and Taiwan have reached a consensus on a large number of issues concerning the travel of individual mainland tourists to the island. Mainlanders are now only allowed to visit Taiwan in tour groups.

A total of 1.82 million mainland tourists joined tour groups to visit the island from July 2008 to the end of 2010, according to Taiwan authorities.

Agencies contributed to this story.