Police in Germany say a 19th-century sailboat has collided with a container ship and sunk in the Elbe River near Hamburg. Five people were injured, one of them seriously.

German news agency dpa reported the collision between the No 5 Elbe, a wooden schooner built in 1883, and the container ship Astrosprinter happened in the Elbe at Stade, downstream from Hamburg, on Saturday afternoon.

The fire service and others brought the 43 people who were on the sailboat ashore. But it wasn't possible to tow the No 5 Elbe to the bank and it sank. The boat returned to service in May after extensive restoration and could be booked for outings.

The Elbe River is a wide but busy shipping route. It wasn't immediately clear what led to the collision.