Paris train derailment: Seven Confirmed Dead After Tran Derails In France (PHOTO)

A packed intercity train has derailed in France while transporting passengers from Paris to Limoges, killing at least seven people and wounding several dozen others.

According to the Agence France-Presse, local authorities said there were “numerous victims” in the Paris train derailment. There were reportedly more than 350 people aboard the intercity train that derailed in the Brétigny-sur-Orge commune shortly after 5 p.m. local time, Le Parisien reports.

Interior Minister Manuel Valls tells the Associated Press, the death toll from Friday’s accident is “evolving constantly at this point and unfortunately it will probably rise.”

He said several dozen passengers were hurt, some seriously.

Earlier, the French newspaper Le Parisien reported eight fatalities and said many of the wounded are still stuck on the train.

Jean-Paul Boulet, spokesman for SNCF, the country’s state-owned railway company, said the train was carrying some 350 passengers when it derailed at 5:15 p.m. local time.

After leaving the tracks, the train crashed into the station at Bretigny-sur-Orge, about 20 kilometres south of Paris.

A passenger speaking on France’s BFM television said the train was going at a normal speed and was not meant to stop at Bretigny-sur-Orge.

He described children unattended in the chaotic aftermath, and swarms of emergency workers at the scene.

Two train cars, numbers 3 and 4, initially derailed, then knocked the other cars off the track, SNCF chief Guillaume Pepy said.

“Some cars simply derailed, others are leaning, others fell over,” he said.

All trains from Paris’s Gare d’Austerlitz were suspended after the accident.

A train is seen after it derailed in the Paris suburb of Bretigny-sur-Orge on Friday, July 12, 2013. (TGorguet / Instagram)

BREAKING: French interior minister: At least 7 people believed dead, several injured in train derailment.

— The Associated Press (@AP) July 12, 2013

A Twitter user at the scene of the Paris train crash shared this photo:

https://twitter.com/be_roby/statuses/355714751327776768

This story is developing. Check back for further updates.

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Paris Train Crash: At Least 7 Dead After Derailment In France
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/12/paris-train-crash-derailment-france_n_3587044.html