BEIJING - Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, mourned for compatriots killed in a train derailment in Taiwan on Friday.

Xi has been deeply concerned about the accident that caused heavy casualties.

He sent sincere condolences to the families of the deceased and expressed sympathies to the injured and wished them a speedy recovery.

Forty-eight people have been confirmed dead and 198 others were injured after the passenger train went off the rails inside a tunnel when traveling from Taipei to Taitung with at least 360 people on board.

It marked the worst railway accident on the Chinese island in 40 years. Local officials fear the death toll could still rise.