Two trains collide in northern Switzerland, five injured

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 travelling 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.

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  escue service men and firemen work on a derailed train at the accident site in Rafz, canton Zurich, Switzerland, on Feb. 20, 2015. (Keystone / Ennio Leanza)