France hit by fresh disaster with casualties

Following a series of terrorist attacks in Paris that took place on Friday night, another major incident occurred in France today.

Several hours ago, a high-speed passenger train derailed in the French region of Alsace while the driver was moving it from one station to another. Apart from the crew, there were no other passengers on board. This alone helped prevent a large number of casualties. Fires broke out in some of the carriages as a result of the incident but were quickly extinguished.

Preliminary data indicates that five people died and a further seven were injured, some of whom were airlifted to hospital in critical condition.

There is no information yet on the cause of the disaster. Rescue workers are operating at the scene. It is not ruled out that the train derailed as a result of a sabotage act.