At least seven people have been killed and 60 seriously injured after a packed passenger train derailed south of Paris this evening.
The high speed intercity train was travelling from the French capital to the city of Limoges when it derailed onto its side in a train station in the suburb of Bretigny-sur-Orge at about 3.15pm GMT.
The accident has left seven people dead, with the victims being crushed to death or electrocuted.
Many passengers desperately scrambled to safety after smashing windows and crawling out while covered in glass and other debris.
Englishman Graham Hope suffered a head injury, saying: ‘The train just started to rock up and down like a bucking bronco and the next thing we hit the station itself. The train bounced up and down dramatically for several seconds.’
The seven carriage train, which ‘split in two’ and then 'buckled', said Mr Hope.
John Paul Martial, who lives opposite the station, said: ‘I heard like a big loud noise, coupled with a great shock, like an earthquake.
‘When I looked, there was a huge plume of smoke billowing above the rails. I was listening to the radio then I realised what had happened.’
Horrific pictures from the scene showed that the train had ploughed into the commuter station, with its carriages partly demolishing a platform.
Bazgua El Mehdi, 19, said: ‘I heard a loud noise and then a cloud of debris covered everything. Then I saw people getting off. One man had was barely conscious, with a bad wound to his head.’
Eyewitness Frederic said he ‘heard the screams’ of passengers caught up in the twisted metal.
The computer programmer, who lives in a building opposite the entrance to the station with his wife Christine, said: ‘We heard a deafening barrage in two stages, first the sound of train wheels that scrape the ballast then a loud crackling of metal.
'Large ballast stones were thrown about ten feet around, falling on adjacent streets. Even our building shook.
‘From my balcony, I saw a cloud of dust rising, then I saw the carnage. I didn’t see any bodies, but I heard the screams. People could be seen running - fleeing from the station.’
Source : dailymail
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