HOUSTON -- A loaded METRORail train broadsided a sport utility vehicle in downtown Houston Tuesday afternoon after police said the SUV ran a red light, KPRC Local 2 reported.

The southbound train plowed into the passenger side of the SUV at about 3:15 p.m. on Main Street at Pease.

Metro Police Chief Tom Lambert told KPRC Local 2 that the SUV driver was westbound and appeared to stop for the light, but then darted right into the path of the train.

Office workers in nearby high-rise buildings heard the sound of the impact. Some came down to watch rescue workers try to free the passenger, who was trapped for about 15 minutes in the mangled SUV.

University of Houston freshman Josh Murdoch was one of the nearly 50 passengers on the train. He said the impact jolted all the passengers and it seemed to take the train quite a while to stop because the weight is so much different than a car.

Lambert said he could not estimate the train's speed, but tapes of the crash would be reviewed as part of the investigation.

After rescuing the passenger of the SUV and loading he and the driver into ambulances, medics climbed aboard the train to strap seven passengers to backboards for trips to the hospital.

None of the injuries appeared life-threatening.

The train's front-end was heavily damaged with scratches digging into the windshield 5 feet off the ground. A rescue-cutting tool was used to bend some of the metal on the train so it could be moved.

Southbound rail traffic was diverted to northbound tracks during some of the cleanup.