Three people were killed when a train and a car collided near the northern German city of Hannover, police said Sunday.

The accident happened at around 4:50 a.m. local time (0350 GMT) at a level crossing north of Neustadt am Rübenberg near the A6 autobahn, the Neue Presse reported.

A police spokeswoman said a regional train plowed into the car "at full speed" after it drove onto the rail track. 

She said the barrier was down at the time of the accident but that it didn't span the entire road.

Young driver and passengers killed

The dead were the three young occupants of the car — the 22-year-old driver and women of a similar age, police said.

Only one of the 42 passengers and rail workers on board the train was slightly injured.

A large contingent of emergency services personnel was at the scene.

Rail line closed, delays expected

Deutsche Bahn (DB) said the rail line between Hannover and Nienburg (Weser) would remain closed until lunchtime.

DB said all high-speed ICE trains between Oldenburg and Hannover were canceled and other services would be affected.

The national rail operator said intercity trains between Hannover and Emden were being diverted in both directions and delays could be expected.

Sunday's collision came two days after a nationwide strike on Germany's railway network led to the cancellation of thousands of train services.

With material from DPA news agency