A French high-speed train that derailed
on a test run Saturday, leaving at least
10 dead and 37 injured, had “several
children” on board, the rail company
said Sunday.
“There were several children on board,”
a spokesman for France’s state rail
company SNCF said, a day after the first
fatal accident since TGV trains were
introduced more than 30 years ago.
He added however that he was unable to
say if any of the children were among
those who died in the derailment in
Eckwersheim, near the northeastern city
of Strasbourg.
“On the other hand, there are some
among the injured,” he added, but said
he couldn’t say if their injuries were
serious.
An investigation would establish the
number of people on board the train and
if there were passengers who were not
authorised to be there, he said.
SNCF chief Guillaume Pepy also told
France Info radio that inquiries would
shed light on exactly who the
“accompanying people” were and how
they came to be on board.
“That’s not a practice that the SNCF
recognises,” he said, stressing “a test
train is a test train”.
A team of 49 technicians and rail
employees were on the train, which was
travelling at around 350 kph (217 mph)
on a high-speed line as part of testing for
the next generation of TGV due to go into
service in early 2016, a source close to
the inquiry said.
The train ended up in a canal.
The accident is thought to have
happened “because of excessive speed”,
Dominique-Nicolas Jane, a senior official
in the Alsace region, said on Saturday.
The accident is the first fatal accident
since the TGV (“train grande vitesse” or
high-speed train) went into service in
France in 1981.


www.ngrguardiannews.com/2015/11/fatal-french-high-speed-test-train-had-children-on-board/

Not again

CharlyNick:
Not again

This is an AFP report on November 15, 2015 12:27 pm.

End time things.