French police suspect train derailment was sabotage

French investigators suspect sabotage was behind a train derailment in northwestern France that injured 44 people and left passengers in a state of shock, prosecutors said on Saturday.

Carrying 186 passengers, the train was running between the Normandy cities of Rouen and Caen when it came off the rails around 7:45 pm (1745 GMT) Friday close to Renault's factory in the town of Cleon.

During the derailment, one carriage tipped onto its side while four others left the tracks.

A fragment of rail was found on the track, with the possibility of a malicious act being treated as the main line of inquiry, said Rouen prosecutor Sebastien Gallois.

"The reasons for its presence are unknown and will have to be determined by the investigation," he said.

Tests for drugs and alcohol on the train driver had come back negative.

Authorities activated a mass-casualty response plan, with 130 firefighters, five medical teams and 80 vehicles drafted in.

An AFP photographer saw a mass of railway staff working around the train on Saturday morning. 

Gallois said 44 people were injured including an 18-year-old woman evacuated "in a critical condition".

She was no longer in life-threatening condition on Saturday but remained hospitalised.

Cleon mayor Melanie Delacour said the victims were "in a state of shock."

"The windows of the carriages that remained upright shattered, and because of the train's speed, stones flew into the carriages," she told AFP.

She said that some victims had told her they would never take the train again.

"It is a tragedy that could have turned into a disaster on a very large scale," Delacour added.

One of the passengers said the accident was "really shocking."

"Suddenly there were a few jolts, and then after about three seconds it got stronger and stronger," Louis, 24, told ICI Normandie radio.

"I couldn't stay in my seat any more," he said. "The windows partially shattered, the stones from the track came into the carriage," he said.

"I'm still shaking," he added.

SNCF Reseau, which controls the French rail network, initially said that traffic on the line had been suspended and power to the tracks cut to allow emergency services to operate.

According to SNCF, the accident caused "major disruptions" to rail traffic between Rouen and Caen and between Caen and Le Havre in both directions.

A spokesperson for SNCF Reseau said on Saturday that services had resumed.

The train will only be lifted off the line once the public prosecutor allows it, with investigations into the cause of the derailment still ongoing.

SNCF said that it would offer "full cooperation in complete transparency" to the inquiry.