“300 kg iron bar” may have caused derailment in France

O piece of rail on the train line is considered the possible cause of derailment on friday of the train who traveled between the cities of Rouen and Caen, which made 44 wounded, one in a serious state but out of danger.

While the investigation points to a malicious act – a legal term in France covering from sabotage to vandalism – the president of Normandy, where the accident occurred, Hervé Morin, spoke of “an iron bar of about 300 kilograms” and stated that she “it didn’t just happen.”.

“What I want is for us to have an extremely strict legal process so that we can find out who is responsible for this act, if that is the case”I told Ouest France.

However, the French Public Prosecutor pushed away, “at this stage” from the investigation, that the railway accident was a terrorist attack, as some political figures claimed, or even a misguided one.

“ At the moment, there is no evidence to suggest a ‘stun’ act committed with the deliberate intention of derailing the train, let alone a ‘terrorist attack’,” said Rouen prosecutor Sébastien Gallois.

Some political figures spoke of terrorist attack, including the mayor of Nice, Eric Ciotti, ally of Marine Le Pen's far-right party.

Sébastien Gallois stated that “the black box of the train was seized” and explained that a forensic expert was called to clarify the circumstances of the accident.

The train driver tested negative for all the toxicological tests he was submitted to.

The derailment of the regional train, which carried 186 passengers, occurred in Normandy, in the municipality of Cléon (Seine-Maritime) on Friday around 7:45 p.m.

In total, 44 people were injured, including a young woman who was removed “in critical condition”, and important relief facilities were mobilized, including 130 firefighters, five medical teams and 80 vehicles.