Police in Denmark say eight people have now died following a rail accident in the country yesterday morning.

The death toll was initially given as six, but police this morning confirmed two more people are now known to have died in the incident on the Great Belt bridge.

The crash happened during stormy weather on the bridge linking two islands.

Authorities are investigating if falling cargo from a passing freight train hit a passenger service.

Investigations continued overnight, with officials saying it was challenging to access the worst affected area of the passenger train as the damage was so extensive.

Three men and five women were killed in the accident, with police saying they are confident they've identified four of those.

DNA and dental records will be used to identify all of the deceased individuals.

Police say the death toll of eight matches the amount of people who have been reported missing.

16 other people were injured in the crash, but none of the injuries are thought to be life threatening.

Investigations are continuing to establish what exactly led to the incident.

In comments quoted by TheLocal.dk, the area's chief superintendent said: “We still do not know exactly what the cause [of the crash] was, but we can confirm that some of the load fell from a freight train, and the [passenger] train then collided with these objects. That caused significant damage to the train."