A train trialling a new high-speed line from Paris to Strasbourg has derailed near the German border killing at least 10 people.
The high-speed TGV train lies partly submerged in a canal near Strasbourg, northeastern France. Photo: AFP
The crash happened during a test run in the town of Eckwersheim, on a new Paris-Strasbourg line. The high speed train derailed, caught fire, and plunged into a canal.
Another 32 people were injured, 12 of them seriously. French Environment Minister Segolene Royal, who was at the scene, said a further five people were unaccounted for.
All those aboard the train were employees of the SNCF national railways.
The accident was caused by excessive speed, although it was too early to say why the train was going that fast, the authorities said.
Pictures from a Reuters photographer at the scene showed the locomotive partly submerged in a canal alongside the tracks with other parts lying broken and scattered in a field beside the track.
Medical units, including police divers, were on the scene.
- Reuters / BBC
