FRANKFURT, Aug. 7 (Xinhua) -- A fire that started Tuesday near a high-speed railway track in western German city of Siegburg has left 40 people injured, the police said.

The fire spread with help of strong wind to the residential area nearby and led to a dramatic conflagration, damaging at least eight houses and injuring some 40 people, including six seriously, according to local police.

Firefighters and police remained at the site for night watch after the fire had been extinguished in the evening.

The operation of the ICE (Inter-city Express) railway connecting Cologne and Frankfurt has been held up, with trains detouring around, causing massive train delays.

As summer heat and drought have been lasting for quite long in Germany, a flying spark of a train might have caused the fire, German media reported. However, the exact cause remains unclear.