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Train derails in Germany after hitting car

An east German regional train struck a car and derailed Tuesday, injuring more than 20 people, officials said.
Image: Firefighters stand in front of a derailed train in Bad Lausick near Leipzig, eastern Germany,
Firefighters stand in front of a derailed train in Bad Lausick near Leipzig, eastern Germany, on Tuesday.Sebastian Willnow / AP
/ Source: The Associated Press

An east German regional train struck a car and derailed Tuesday, injuring more than 20 people, officials said.

The car had been hit by another vehicle and pushed onto the tracks in Lauterbach, between Leipzig and Chemnitz, federal police spokesman Torsten Henkel said.

The driver of the car managed to get out before the accident, Henkel said.

He said three of the train cars derailed and one tipped over on its side.

Six people were seriously injured and another 15 received minor injuries, according to local officials. News agency dapd said regional federal police chief Wieland Mozdzynski and Saxony's state transport minister, Sven Morlok, issued those figures during a visit to the scene — revising downward initial police reports that nine people were seriously injured and another 40 lightly injured.

Helicopters flew the most seriously injured to local hospitals for treatment.