Eight seriously injured in southern France train crash
A train crashed in southern France on Wednesday afternoon, leaving around 60 people injured, eight severely.
The regional TER train crashed at Lunel, which is between Nimes and Montpellier in the south of France (see map below).
"At Lunel at around 3:45 pm, a TER going at 140 kmh hit a tree which had fallen on to the track after extremely violent storms in the region," national rail operator SNCF said.
The rail operator added that the scene was difficult to reach for firefighters and police.
Some 219 people were on board the train at the time of the crash.
Rescuers told the AFP news agency that eight people were "severely injured", and that another fifty suffered
minor injuries.
At least one helicopter was at the scene to carry the injured to a nearby hospital while others gathered on the train tracks.
An image shared by the local branch of France Bleu showed a large tree that appeared to have completely covered the tracks.
Meanwhile, tweets from passengers (below) showed the damage from the collision, including what appears to be a hole in the wall of the train and glass from broken windows all over the floor.
Trains in both directions in the area faced severe delays following the accident.
Voila le train et ce qui s'est passé, on voit pas bien bien mais c'est énorme et y a un énorme trou #accidentssncf pic.twitter.com/2kfGPEABfB
— Arrow (@aurore_sch) August 17, 2016
#Orage vers #Montpellier - Vitres d'un #train brisées par une chute d'arbre - Les détails : https://t.co/Kb5BvEvqDt pic.twitter.com/OQO5pZGfd3
— Météo Villes (@Meteovilles) August 17, 2016
L'état du #TER qui a percuté un arbre entre #Nîmes et #Montpellier #sncf #accident pic.twitter.com/afPXaVKpLp
— Chrystopher Barolin (@KrysFuller) August 17, 2016
The crash occurred near Lunel, north of Montpellier in southern France. Photo: Google Maps
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The regional TER train crashed at Lunel, which is between Nimes and Montpellier in the south of France (see map below).
At least one helicopter was at the scene to carry the injured to a nearby hospital while others gathered on the train tracks.
An image shared by the local branch of France Bleu showed a large tree that appeared to have completely covered the tracks.
Meanwhile, tweets from passengers (below) showed the damage from the collision, including what appears to be a hole in the wall of the train and glass from broken windows all over the floor.
Trains in both directions in the area faced severe delays following the accident.
Voila le train et ce qui s'est passé, on voit pas bien bien mais c'est énorme et y a un énorme trou #accidentssncf pic.twitter.com/2kfGPEABfB
— Arrow (@aurore_sch) August 17, 2016
#Orage vers #Montpellier - Vitres d'un #train brisées par une chute d'arbre - Les détails : https://t.co/Kb5BvEvqDt pic.twitter.com/OQO5pZGfd3
— Météo Villes (@Meteovilles) August 17, 2016
L'état du #TER qui a percuté un arbre entre #Nîmes et #Montpellier #sncf #accident pic.twitter.com/afPXaVKpLp
— Chrystopher Barolin (@KrysFuller) August 17, 2016
The crash occurred near Lunel, north of Montpellier in southern France. Photo: Google Maps
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