Train collision in northeastern France kills five
12 October, 2006
A passenger train collided with an oncoming freight train in northeastern France on Wednesday, killing at least five, authorities said.
Earlier, officials had reported 12 dead.
The bodies of four of the five confirmed dead had been retrieved by evening, an official said. Rescue work was to continue through the night.
Officials still aren't clear how many others could be trapped in the wreckage.
Besides the dead, there were five injured, including two seriously, and another 10 treated for shock.
"This is a terrible tragedy," Jean-Marie Demange, a national lawmaker and mayor of the nearby town of Thionville, told The Associated Press. "Lots of people from both countries commute across the border."
The passenger train, a double-decker regional express, was travelling from Luxembourg to the French city of Nancy, state-owned French rail operator SNCF spokesman Philippe Mirville told the Associated Press.
The accident occurred near Zoufftgen, about two kilometres south of the border.
Rail officials said the trains were travelling in opposite directions on the same stretch of track.
"According to the SNCF, the accident happened near an area where construction work on the tracks was underway," ABC's Christophe Schpoliansky told CTV's Canada AM from Paris.
"Because of this construction work, only one track was in service at the time of the accident, so it is believed that because of this construction work, the two trains were on the same track at the same time."
More than 100 rescue workers were at the crash site or heading there to set up a mobile hospital, local fire chief Samuel Gesret told France-2 television.
Wednesday's crash appeared to be the worst train disaster in France since November 2002. At that time, a fire swept through an overnight car heading for Austria, killing 12 passengers.
Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, who was flying to the French Caribbean when news of the accident broke, has decided to turn back to France to visit the site, as well as investigators who will be looking into the cause of the crash.
Coutesy: CTV.ca
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