MORE THAN 200 passengers have been injured in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur when two metro trains collided in a tunnel, police said.

The accident happened just before 9pm (2pm Irish time), when a packed train collided with a second that was empty and heading in the opposite direction.

Pictures circulating on social media showed injured passengers sprawled on the floor of a carriage, which was covered in glass.

They also showed people on stretchers being treated by emergency services after the accident, which happened in downtown Kuala Lumpur close to the landmark Petronas Twin Towers.

47 people suffered serious injuries and 166 had minor injuries in the accident, said police official Mohamad Zainal Abdullah.

The empty train had just been repaired and was travelling on the same track as the full train.

“The front of the trains collided, and the impact threw passengers on to the floor, this caused the injuries,” he said.

The trains were not travelling fast at the time at the accident – one was going at 20 kilometres per hour and the other at 40 kilometres per hour, officials said.

They also said there was no sign of foul play and the accident appeared to have been caused by miscommunication.

The country’s Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said on Facebook that the crash was “serious”.

“I have instructed the transport minister and [train] operator… to conduct an in-depth probe to find out the cause of the accident,” he said.

Accidents are rare on the metro system that serves Kuala Lumpur.