Lindwedel, Germany - Four young Polish nationals doing casual farm work were killed in Germany Tuesday when a train slammed into their station wagon on a level crossing south of Hamburg.

One Polish woman, 20, survived the collision with serious injuries, German police said. The dead were aged 18 to 24.

Police said the male driver, 19, had just overtaken a tractor and trailer when the car reached the crossing, located near the small town of Lindwedel in the Lueneburg Heath part of Germany.

The crossing had only a traffic sign and no gates to halt traffic.

"The crossing is in open country with the railway track clearly visible for several hundred metres in both directions," said a police spokesman. The regional train, moving at
80 kilometres per hour, dragged the station wagon 400 metres before it could stop.

None of the 40 occupants of the train were hurt, the railway company Deutsche Bahn said, but the engine driver was receiving post-trauma counselling. (dpa)