French police suspect train derailment was sabotage as probe continues
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Rescue personnel working at the site of a derailment in the town of Cleon in Normandy on Sept 11. A fragment of rail was found on the track, with the possibility of a malicious act being treated as the main line of inquiry as a result, a police source said.
PHOTO: AFP
- French police suspect sabotage caused a train derailment in north-west France, injuring 44 people, including one critically, with a rail fragment found on the track.
- The train, carrying 186 passengers between Rouen and Caen, derailed near Cleon, prompting a large emergency response with firefighters and medical teams.
- Rail traffic was suspended, causing major disruptions, with some services resuming and investigations ongoing; SNCF pledged full cooperation and transparency with the inquiry.
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PARIS – Investigators suspect sabotage was behind a train derailment in north-west France which injured 44 people and left passengers in a state of shock, prosecutors said on Sept 12.
A fragment of rail was found on the track, with the possibility of a malicious act being treated as the main line of inquiry, said Rouen prosecutor Sebastien Gallois.
“The reasons for its presence are unknown and will have to be determined by the investigation,” he said.
The train carrying 186 passengers was running between the Normandy cities of Rouen and Caen when it derailed at around 7.45pm on Sept 11 (1.45am, Sept 12 Singapore time) close to Renault’s factory in the town of Cleon.
During the derailment, one carriage tipped onto its side while four others left the tracks.
The authorities activated a mass-casualty response plan, with 130 firefighters, five medical teams and 80 vehicles responding.
An AFP photographer saw a mass of railway staff working around the train on the morning of Sept 12.
Gallois said 44 people were injured, including an 18-year-old woman evacuated “in a critical condition”, while tests for drugs and alcohol on the train driver had come back negative.
She was no longer in life-threatening condition on Sept 12 but remained hospitalised.
‘Really shocking’
Cleon mayor Melanie Delacour said the victims were “in a state of shock”.
“The windows of the carriages that remained upright shattered, and because of the train’s speed, stones flew into the carriages,” she told AFP.
She said that some victims had told her they would never take the train again.
“It is a tragedy that could have turned into a disaster on a very large scale,” Delacour added.
One of the passengers said the accident was “really shocking”.
“Suddenly there were a few jolts, and then after about three seconds it got stronger and stronger,” one of the passengers, Louis, 24, told ICI Normandie radio.
“I couldn’t stay in my seat any more,” he said. “The windows partially shattered, the stones from the track came into the carriage. It was really shocking. I’m still shaking.”
Those who escaped unharmed were taken to a room made available by Delacour, according to the authorities.
‘Major disruptions’
SNCF Reseau, which controls the French rail network, initially said that traffic on the line had been suspended and power to the tracks cut to allow emergency services to operate.
According to SNCF, the accident caused “major disruptions” to rail traffic between Rouen and Caen and between Caen and Le Havre in both directions.
A spokesperson for railway infrastructure manager SNCF Reseau said on the morning of Sept 12 that services had resumed.
On the Rouen-Caen line, which usually sees 10 return services per day and six at weekends, a replacement bus service has been set up, passenger train operator SNCF Voyageurs said.
According to the spokesperson, the train will be lifted off the track once the public prosecutor allows it, with investigations into the cause of the derailment still ongoing.
SNCF insisted that it would offer “full cooperation in complete transparency” to the inquiry. AFP
