Two trams collided on Saturday near Strasbourg station, in eastern France, leaving 68 people injured.
The collision between two trams at Strasbourg station on Saturday left 68 injured.in relative urgency” according to the final report communicated on Sunday by the prefecture.
Saturday afternoon, shortly before 4:00 p.m., a tram on the platform at the underground stop of Strasbourg station was violently hit from the front by the tram in front of it.
The tram, which had to stop before the next station due to a traffic jam on the tracks, went backwards for a still unknown reason and rolled down the slope leading to the station.
A video obtained by AFP shows badly damaged trains, the ends of the colliding trams heavily depressed, and passengers on the ground on the station platform.
A video from a witness on social networks shows a chaotic scene with two trams seriously damaged in the tunnel, at the station. One of the trams appears to have derailed due to the impact. “It’s a frontal impact following a tram reversing, the causes of which I don’t know”declared the environmentalist mayor Jeanne Barseghian, quickly present on site. “There is no death, no person in absolute emergency, according to the information available to me at this stage, but obviously, the injured people, some are in a state of shock since the shock was relatively violent” , she added.
The victims presented injuries related to trauma, “wounds to the scalp, one or two fractures of the clavicle, a sprained knee”, detailed Saturday the director of the Bas-Rhin fire and rescue service, René Cellar.
Around a hundred people escaped unhurt.
The prosecution announced that it had opened an investigation into unintentional injuries, which aims to “determine the causes of the accident and highlight possible criminal responsibilities”. The hypothesis of a voluntary act is ruled out.
Tram traffic at the station has been interrupted and will not resume for several days, said the Compagnie des transports strasbourgeois (CTS).
accident tram accident France strasbourg
