A high-speed train crashed into a locomotive on the same track in Ankara, killing nine people and injuring 47, Turkish Transport Minister Mehmet Cahit Turhan said Thursday.

The accident took place at 6:36 am (0336 GMT) as the train left the central station in the Turkish capital and collided head-on with the locomotive, which was returning from checking tracks.

Three train drivers - two from the express train and one in the locomotive - were among the dead, Turhan said. A fourth driver was injured.

The train was on its way to Konya, in central Turkey, about 260 kilometres south of Ankara.

Broadcast footage showed rescue workers at the scene amid piles of rubble and mangled carriages. Sniffer dogs were also at the crash site, but the minister said there was no one left under the rubble.

An investigation has been launched into the cause of the accident.

State news agency Anadolu had initially reported that the train had crashed into an overpass, when carriages derailed a few minutes after it left the station.