Investigation into French tram crash as number of injuries rises to 68
The toll from a collision of two trams in Strasbourg has risen to 68 injured in a rare accident that sowed panic near the eastern French city's main train station, authorities said Sunday. An investigation into the cause of the crash is underway.
On Saturday afternoon, a stationary tram at the underground stop at Strasbourg's main railway station was violently hit by another tram, which began to move backwards for unknown reasons.
The moving tram, which had stopped due to a traffic jam, reversed and rolled down a slope leading to the station.
Both trams carried dozens of passengers.
As a result of the collision, 68 people were injured, according to the prefecture, which released an updated toll Sunday.
Around a hundred people escaped unharmed.
The collision occurred near Strasbourg's main train station, one of the busiest in France outside of Paris.
Video footage posted online showed chaotic scenes with the two trams significantly damaged, an alarm going off and people screaming.
"The tram set off again at full speed towards the station," said Romaric Koumba, one of the passengers.
"As we were setting off again towards the station, we realised that there was already another tram that had returned to the station. This tram was at a standstill, thank God," Koumba said.
"When the tram collided with the other one, the doors flew off," he added.
Could have been worse
Another witness, Johan Kirschenbaum, said the moving train apparently had a problem with the brakes.
"We heard a big impact, a big bang," he said.
Cellier said that the situation "could have been much more serious".
Prosecutors said the collision was not deliberate.
(with AFP)
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