Nearly 50 commuters were injured after a passenger train carrying 155 people hit a freight train northwest of the city of Düsseldorf Tuesday evening.

The crash occurred at the train station of Osterath, a part of the city of Meerbusch on the outskirts of Düsseldorf, the regional capital of North Rhine-Westphalia state.

"41 people have suffered minor injuries. Three people have moderate injuries and another three people have serious injuries," Meerbusch fire department said in a statement.

German federal police had earlier said only five people had suffered minor injuries.

Meerbusch firefighters have been rescuing passengers from the damaged train since 9:30 p.m. local time (2030 UTC). Torn overhead power cables had initially hindered recovery work.

The passenger train, owned by private British operator National Express, collided with a stationary cargo train owned by German Rail (Deutsche Bahn) at 7:30 p.m. local time (1830 UTC). The train was on its way from Cologne to Krefeld.

"We were lucky," National Express spokesman Marcel Winter said. "It could have ended far worse than it did."

Authorities have not said what caused the crash to happen.

amp, ij/se (dpa, Reuters, AFP)