Several people have been killed in a train accident on a bridge linking the central Danish islands of Zealand and Funen, police said.

Officers did not provide further details about thzeose killed or the number of people injured in Wednesday's incident, which happened at about 8am local time.

Danish media reported that a tarpaulin on a freight train hit a passenger train going in the opposite direction on the Storebaelt bridge, prompting it to brake suddenly.

Police are scheduled to give a news conference later.

The passenger train had departed from the city of Odense, on the central island of Fyn.

Denmark's TV2 showed images of a freight train and a tarpaulin that was torn in pieces. It reported that eight people were injured.

The accident took place on a road-and-rail bridge, part of a transport system consisting of a road suspension bridge and a railway tunnel.

The network was closed to cars on Wednesday because of strong winds, but trains could pass.