Three passenger was killed and thirteen injured when two coaches of a train derailed at the Venkatampalli railway station near Guntakal town in Andhra Pradesh on Sunday.

South Central Railways Chief Operations Manager Ashok Gupta told rediff.com that the mishap occurred at 0855 IST.

The train was running on the metre gauge section from Pakala to Guntakal.

The injured were being treated at the Guntakal railway hospital.

The remaining passengers were taken to Guntakal for their onward journey to Bellary.

"All help could be rendered to the passengers because the accident spot is very close to Guntakal," Gupta said.

Preliminary inquiries revealed that the accident could have been caused by the negligence of a pointsman  

Union Minister of State for Railways Bandaru Dattatreya said an inquiry would be conducted into the accident.

Action would be taken if the inquiry revealed any human error, he added.