Some 50 passengers suffered injuries as a regional train derailed on Tuesday in a crash with a car in Lauterbach, between Leipzig and Chemnitz, eastern Germany.

The train crashed into the car after it was slammed by another passing vehicle and slipped off the tracks, according to a German federal police spokesman.

Three of the train carriages derailed and the front carriage overturned.

Around 40 passengers were slightly injured while some 9 people remained in serious conditions.

Rescuers rushed to the site and the seriously injured passengers were transferred by helicopters for treatment.

The driver of the car survived accident with a narrow escape.

Police said that the accident took place at a rail and road intersection, as the car rammed from behind by another vehicle lost control and collided into the train.

The rail traffic at the accident site was shifted to other railroad, German railway operator Deutsch Bahn said.

VietNamNet/Xinhuanet