Deadly French train crash at Bretigny-sur-Orge

13 July BBC

Six people have been killed and more than 20 injured in a train crash at Bretigny-sur-Orge, south of Paris, French officials have said.The intercity train had just left Paris and was heading towards Limoges when it derailed, crashing into a station platform at 17:14 (15:14 GMT).

Passengers were left trapped inside carriages.French President Francois Hollande visited the scene and expressed his shock at the accident.Six people died and 22 others were seriously injured, Mr Hollande told reporters. All those with serious injuries were now in hospital, he added.

Shortly after the crash, officials said as many as eight people were thought to have died.

BBC Paris correspondent Hugh Schofield said there was a strong possibility that the number of fatalities could rise again because some of the injured were very badly hurt.

The French president spoke of his "solidarity" with the families of those caught up in the accident, saying that the station would be closed for three days while investigations were carried out to determine what led to the derailment.

The rail company SNCF said 385 passengers were on board when the train crashed. The station platforms were crowded at the start of a holiday weekend.

Distressing accounts have emerged from the scene of the crash. British student Marvin Khareem Wone was on a train on another platform when the carriages of the intercity ploughed into the station.

The train went off the railway; it just went on the platform and kind of flew in the air for a second and went upside down," he told BBC Radio.