2 trains collide in northern Switzerland, 5 injured

Rescue service men and firemen work at a derailed train a the accident site in Rafz, canton Zurich, Switzerland, on Friday, Feb. 20, 2015. The collision of two passenger trains in the early morning caused five injured, one of them severe, police said. (AP Photo/Keystone, Ennio Leanza)

BERLIN — Two trains collided early Friday in northern Switzerland, injuring five people, police said.

The collision between a commuter train and a longer-distance train happened in Rafz, north of Zurich near the German border, at 6.45 a.m.

One of the trains then derailed, Zurich canton (state) police said. Five people were injured, one of them seriously.

Train cars were knocked off the tracks, but not overturned.

Switzerland’s national railway said the two trains — a fast train traveling from Zurich to Schaffhausen and a commuter service from Rafz to Schaffhausen — collided at a switch just outside the station, with one hitting the other side-on.

It wasn’t immediately clear what caused the accident.