“REALLY SHOCKING”
Cleon mayor Melanie Delacour mentioned the victims had been “in a state of shock”.
“The home windows of the carriages that remained upright shattered, and due to the practice’s pace, stones flew into the carriages,” she instructed AFP.
She mentioned that some victims had instructed her they might by no means take the practice once more.
“It’s a tragedy that might have changed into a catastrophe on a really giant scale,” Delacour added.
One of many passengers mentioned the accident was “actually stunning.”
“Instantly there have been just a few jolts, after which after about three seconds it received stronger and stronger,” Louis, 24, instructed ICI Normandie radio.
“I could not keep in my seat any extra,” he mentioned. “The home windows partially shattered, the stones from the observe got here into the carriage,” he mentioned.
“I am nonetheless shaking,” he added.
SNCF Reseau, which controls the French rail community, initially mentioned that site visitors on the road had been suspended and energy to the tracks reduce to permit emergency companies to function.
Based on SNCF, the accident triggered “main disruptions” to rail site visitors between Rouen and Caen and between Caen and Le Havre in each instructions.
A spokesperson for SNCF Reseau mentioned on Saturday that companies had resumed.
The practice will solely be lifted off the road as soon as the general public prosecutor permits it, with investigations into the reason for the derailment nonetheless ongoing.
SNCF mentioned that it might supply “full cooperation in full transparency” to the inquiry.
