Investigations after train derailment in Normandy: No evidence of attack

After a regional train derailed in northwestern France with 44 people injured, investigators do not believe there was an attack based on current knowledge. There is so far no evidence of a “malicious act” or an attack, said Rouen prosecutor Sébastien Gallois. However, according to him, a piece of rail was found on the route. How it got there still needs to be clarified.

Politicians had previously spoken of a “criminal act” or an “assassination.” The mayor of Nice, Eric Ciotti, said that the derailment was "the result of an attack." He demanded that the perpetrators be punished “with the greatest determination.”

The president of the Normandy region, Hervé Morin, also said it was a “criminal act”. The piece of rail, which weighs 250 to 300 kilograms, did not “just end up on the tracks.” An hour before the train derailed, a train had passed the area in question and no construction work had taken place there in the meantime.

The regional train carrying 186 passengers was traveling at around 140 kilometers per hour in Normandy between the cities of Rouen and Caen on Friday evening when it partially derailed near Cléon. Four carriages jumped off the rails and a fifth overturned. The train driver was checked for drug and alcohol consumption and the tests were negative.

Among the 44 injured was an 18-year-old whose condition the authorities initially described as “critical”. Prosecutor Gallois later gave the all-clear and announced that the young woman's life was no longer in danger. Train services in the region restarted on Saturday, according to SNCF Réseau, after major disruptions occurred in the region.