The photo on May 10, 2016 shows a German train in a station in the south of the country. (Xinhua/Zhu Sheng)

FRANKFURT, Dec. 5 (Xinhua) -- Nearly 50 people were injured in a train collision in western German city of Meerbusch Tuesday evening, according to the local fire department's twitter.

The fire department said that the emergency services have arrived at the accident site and are trying to get access to the people on the passenger train, which collided with a freight train.

The accident occurred around 7:30 p.m. (1830 GMT) near the community of Meerbusch-Osterathnear, about 10 km northwest of Dusseldorf.

Citing a police spokesman, a report by German press agency DPA says rescue operations are going slowly because overhead power lines had been torn down and were hanging dangerously.