Train derails in France; police are focusing on the possibility of sabotage
A metal object placed on the tracks caused a high-speed train to derail in northern France, leaving several people injured and one woman in a serious condition
The French police are treating sabotage as the most likely cause of Friday evening’s serious train accident, when a train carrying 180 passengers – travelling between Caen and Rouen in the north – derailed. Forty-four people were injured, and one woman is in a serious condition.
Hypothesis of premeditated act
The theory that the accident was a deliberate act had already emerged immediately after the incident. Since yesterday evening, a photo of a long section of track that had been cut out and placed between the rails has been doing the rounds on social media.
The piece of metal is believed to have been placed on the tracks, causing the train to derail. According to the accounts, which the police now consider more credible, the incident occurred at around 7.45 pm, whilst the train was travelling at 140 km per hour and struck a metal object lying on the tracks. At that moment, the train was travelling between Tourville and Elbeuf-Saint-Aubin, near the village of Cléon.
