The Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) has been checking if there are Filipino casualties after a train derailed in a tunnel in Taiwan, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said on Friday.

In a message to reporters, the DFA said so far MECO, the Philippine de facto embassy in Taipei, has not received any report that a Filipino was among those 36 killed in the incident.

"At this time no report received of any Filipino casualty, but MECO continues to verify," the DFA said.

A train traveling in eastern Taiwan came off the rails, killing at least 36 people and scores wounded. Celerina Monte/DMS