A serious accident occurred this Tuesday, November 12, late in the morning, on a level crossing in Saujon, a town located about ten kilometers from Royan. A car was hit by a TER, right in the middle of the rails, at the Chemin Vert level crossing. The driver of the car, an 86-year-old woman, died.
Emergency services were alerted shortly before 11:30 a.m. For the moment, no explanation for the causes of this accident is known. The first information communicated by the emergency services on site reported a seriously injured person, in the process of being extricated. But very quickly, despite the resuscitation attempts made by the Smur, the victim was declared dead. This is the driver of the car from Chay, a village near Saujon.
The two train drivers, shocked, were transported to the Royan hospital center. No passengers on the train were injured. Eighteen of them were picked up by the SNCF to be taken to Saintes.
Dense traffic
Train traffic is currently interrupted. “We don’t know what happened. Perhaps when arriving at this level crossing the elderly driver was frightened by the noise and the light which warns of the imminent closing of the barriers and the arrival of a train. Did she panic and find herself in the middle of the tracks without being able to do anything? We don’t know,” says the mayor of Saujon Pascal Ferchaud, who had already warned of heavy traffic on this municipal road.
