BREAKING: ‘Five dead’ after carriages on a French train derail during the country’s highest ever terror alert

The train derailed this afternoon (Picture: AFP/Getty)

At least five people have died after a high speed train derailed and smashed into a canal close to Strasbourg in France, during the country’s highest ever terror alert.
Local press reported seven people were injured and five people have died as the train caught fire after leaving the tracks, with passengers evacuated by helicopter.
The train landed in the Marne-Rhine canal, the newspaper reported.
There is not believed to be a link between this and the terror attacks in Paris last night which killed at least 128 people, they added.

Pictures from the scene near Eckwersheim in the east of France, near the German border, show the extent of the damage.

Vue aérienne du déraillement d'une rame TGV à Eckwersheim, à l'approche de Strasbourg. Sans doute des blesssés. pic.twitter.com/JUHzQEZZPB

— France 3 Alsace (@F3Alsace) November 14, 2015

(Picture: Reuters/Vincent Kessler)

The train is believed to have been trying out a new TGV line from Paris to Strasbourg, with those dead technicians working on the new route.
AFP news agency reported sources saying the crash is believed to be due to high speed.

(Picture: Reuters/Vincent Kessler)

Police officers check passengers in a tramway in Strasbourg (Picture: Alamy)

Rescue workers search the wreckage of a TGV train (Picture: Reuters/Vincent Kessler)

A French gendarme searches the wreckage (Picture: Reuters/Vincent Kessler)

Sous le pont. #déraillement pic.twitter.com/k3VGNk0mgw

— Aurélien Poivret (@AurelienPoivret) November 14, 2015

 

Source: Metro.co.uk