A dramatic accident occurred in Dordogne, Monday May 6, around 10:45 p.m., in Razac-sur-l’Isle, rue Victor-Hugo, near the departmental 3A6. A man, who was alone in his car, stopped on a level crossing between the two barriers, was hit head-on by the TER of the Bordeaux-Périgueux line, which left at 9:27 p.m. from Saint-Pierre station. Jeans.
The forty-year-old, born in 1979 and living in Coulounieix-Chamiers, died instantly, according to the gendarmes of the community of brigades (COB) of Saint-Astier/Neuvic, who arrived after 11 p.m. alongside 18 firefighters. Given the violence of the impact, the man’s gray Opel Astra was dragged several dozen meters and torn to pieces.
The 18 passengers unhurt
The train driver was in shock. The 18 passengers of this last train, which was due to arrive in Périgueux at 10:53 p.m., as well as the controller, were not injured, according to the SNCF. On-call officers were called, in particular to free the car and repair the damaged installations, including the level crossing. They had to remove a lot of debris from the vehicle and the train was damaged as well.
Despite the late hour, a bus was chartered by the SNCF and went to Razac around 12:30 a.m., to reach Périgueux which is only a dozen kilometers away. The agents’ operations ended around 4:30 a.m. This allowed the first train on the line to run normally this Tuesday, May 7 in the morning.
According to the gendarmes and the SNCF, it is still difficult to explain the causes of this terrible accident. “Negligence on the part of this man or a desperate act? », we ask ourselves at the SNCF. The investigation will reveal more. “Unfortunately, such tragedies happen from time to time in similar conditions,” SNCF is told. Tuesday April 30, for example, an octogenarian motorist died in a collision with a train in Saint-Pé-de-Bigorre, in the Hautes-Pyrénées. We are increasingly trying to reduce the number of level crossings to avoid such accidents. »
