Forty-four injured as a Rouen to Caen train derails in Normandy
An 18-year-old woman was flown to hospital in critical condition. The train was carrying 186 passengers; tests on the driver for drugs and alcohol came back negative.
A passenger train derailed in northwestern France on Friday evening, injuring 44 people, one of them critically. The train was carrying 186 passengers between the Normandy cities of Rouen and Caen.
It came off the tracks at about 7.45pm local time, 17:45 GMT, French transport minister Philippe Tabarot said on X.
The casualties
Rouen prosecutor Sébastien Gallois said 44 people were injured, including an 18-year-old woman evacuated in critical condition.
According to the prefecture of Seine-Maritime, the young woman was flown by helicopter to Rouen University Hospital.
The response
Local authorities activated a mass-casualty response plan, deploying 130 firefighters, five medical teams and 80 vehicles to the scene.
That is roughly one responder for every one and a half people on board.
What passengers described
Louis, a 24-year-old passenger, told local radio ICI Normandie that the derailment began as something small and escalated within seconds.
"Suddenly there were a few jolts, and then after about three seconds it got stronger and stronger," he said.
He described the carriage coming apart around him. "I couldn't stay in my seat any more," he said. "The windows partially shattered, the stones from the track came into the carriage." He added: "It was really shocking. I'm still shaking."
The line
SNCF Réseau, which manages France's rail network, suspended traffic on the line and cut power to the tracks so emergency services could work safely.
"The priority is to care for the passengers and then to restore safe operating conditions," the company said.
The company gave the power cut as the condition for emergency services to work at the site.
The investigation
Rail authorities and police are investigating the cause.
Gallois said tests for drugs and alcohol on the train driver had come back negative. That is a routine step after a rail incident in France and its result closes one line of inquiry early, leaving the track, the rolling stock and the signalling as the areas still to be examined.
No cause has been stated by either the prosecutor or SNCF Réseau.
The route
No speed at the point of derailment has been given.
Tabarot's statement on X was the first official confirmation of the incident. The prefecture, the prosecutor's office and the infrastructure manager each subsequently addressed a different part of it — the casualty evacuation, the criminal inquiry and the state of the line.
What has not been established
The number of people who remain in hospital has not been reported, nor the condition of the 18-year-old woman beyond her evacuation. Neither the prosecutor nor SNCF Réseau has indicated when the line will reopen.
Al Jazeera carried the report with AFP and Reuters.
