Personal accident at Valognes station: what happened

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It is a modest name specific to the SNCF which leaves no one indifferent: the “ personal accident“. Understand: a victim, injured or deceased, found himself voluntarily or involuntarily in the path of a train.

Alert given at 1:45 p.m.

Ce Friday January 3, 2025 the activity of the railway line which connects Paris Saint-Lazare to Cherbourg (Manche) was very strongly disturbed throughout the afternoon and all TERs deleted several hours lasting.

A first alert, reporting a “personal accident” in Valognes, was given by the SNCF at 1:45 p.m.

According to the procedure in force, the circulation des trains is then immediately interrupted in both directions. In the present case, the trains were off between Lison (Calvados) and Cherbourg, where replacement buses were to take care of travelers. The field was therefore left open to rescue teams and to law enforcementto intervene.

At the beginning of the afternoon, the surroundings of the stationlocated a stone's throw from the city center, were curly. Here by the gendarmesthere by themunicipal policies . “Sir, we are not passing,” calls out an agent at the entrance to avenue de la gare, raising his hand. The station area is closed. »

Behind him, facing the Café de la Gare, the Dragon 50 helicopterof Civil Security is stationed in a pocket handkerchief. Around, several vehicles firefighters . Among the prohibited motorists, there are those who immediately guess the situation and turn around with an apologetic look. And those who, caught off guard, ask the agent again: “But I have a train to catch, what do I do?” »

Of the SNCF agentsare also present to respond to pedestrian requests. How to get to Le Mans (Sarthe)? Will the connection be guaranteed? What about postponing my trip? Information is taken and given in a calm and understanding manner. Only the regular arrival of emergency vehicles, screaming sirens deceives everyone's expectations.

Three hours of intervention

In the background, dozens of people wait seriously, their gaze focused on the stopped helicopter. “It’s starting to last a long time,” slips Philippe, a resident of the city who happened to pass there by chance. There may still be hope for the person…”

According to the SNCF, in the event of a death on its tracks, the average time for interruption of lines such as this is two hours. So at this time, everything still seems possible.

Around 3:30 p.m., a new rescue-clearance vehicle enters the station perimeter. This is a team of firefighters specialized in the extraction and evacuation of victims in environments that are collapsed or threatened with collapse, dispatched when the “traditional” means of their colleagues prove insufficient or too risky for them.

Then another vehicle: that of Mobile emergency and resuscitation service (SMUR)of the Cotentin Public Hospital Center (CHPC). Inside, several white coats ready to intervene directly on the tracks.

A victim evacuated

A young man who was supposed to board a train walks in circles, not knowing what to do. A retired couple, luggage piled up on the sidewalk, see their car just in front of the station. They too wait, without knowing precisely what is happening on the tracks, hoping for the least dramatic outcome possible for the victim.

According to our information, the victim with whom all the health and safety personnel involved are then active would be a femme. A woman who, a few hours earlier, would havethrown under the approaching train from the station platformunder the eyes of several witnesses.

Around 4:20 p.m., the Dragon 50 took off again. On board, the victim, alive.

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