Derailment of a TER between Rouen and Caen: 44 injured, including one in absolute emergency

A total of 44 people were injured, including a young woman evacuated “in absolute emergency” in the derailment Friday evening of a TER which transported 186 passengers between Rouen and Caen, according to the Seine-Maritime prefecture and the prosecution. The derailment took place between Tourville and Elbeuf-Saint-Aubin, near the town of Cléon (Seine-Maritime) around 7:45 p.m. Significant emergency resources were mobilized with 130 firefighters, five medical teams and 80 vehicles.

An 18-year-old passenger was “evacuated in absolute emergency” by helicopter to the Rouen University Hospital and 43 other people were taken care of “in relative urgency”, said the Rouen prosecutor, Sébastien Gallois.

“The uninjured people were taken to a room made available by the mayor of Cléon,” according to the prefecture. Furthermore, the Rouen judicial police have been seized of an investigation, indicated Mr. Gallois.

“Screenings” for alcohol and narcotics on the train driver turned out to be “all negative”, the magistrate underlined. The causes of the accident were not known Friday evening. “The investigation will be long,” warned the deputy prosecutor, Marie-Valérie Albert, during a press briefing.

The relief operation “is now entering its second phase with the evacuation of people who do not require immediate care,” said the prefect, Jean-Benoît Albertini, also present at the press briefing.

“All of a sudden there came a few shocks, then after three seconds, it became stronger and stronger,” one of the passengers, Louis, aged 24, testified to ICI Normandie. “I could no longer hold my seat (...) The windows partially exploded, the stones from the track entered the carriage,” he said. “It was really shocking, I’m still shaking.”

The Minister of Transport Philippe Tabarot initially reported a toll of around 20 people injured in this TER which transported 186 people in two trains. As soon as the accident was announced, the prefect of Seine-Maritime triggered the Orsec numerous victims plan (NOVI) and went to the site.

The accident caused “major disruptions” to rail traffic between Rouen and Caen and between Caen and Le Havre, in both directions, according to SNCF.

“A replacement bus service will be put in place. SNCF agents are on site to determine the circumstances of the incident,” said SNCF Voyageurs. At Saint-Lazare station in Paris, four trains from Le Havre and Rouen were announced 2h40 to 3h late.

The national railway company expressed “its full solidarity towards the injured travelers and their loved ones, as well as towards all the SNCF staff mobilized on site and engaged to assist passengers in this ordeal”. The SNCF stressed that it would provide “all its support in complete transparency” to the investigation.