FRENCH TRAIN WRECKED

Taranaki Daily News, 24 November 1930, Page 7

FRENCH TRAIN WRECKED

COACHES FALL INTO. RIVER

OCCUPANTS’ LUCKY ESCAPE HEROIC SIGNALMAN KILLED SUBSIDENCE ON THE TRACK By Telegraph—Press Assn.—-Copyright. Rec. 5.5 p.m. Paris, Nov. 22. A train travelling from Paris to Nantes was derailed owing to a subsidence on the track between Oudon and Clermoht-sur-Loire, as the result of heavy rains. A signalman at Clermont rushed on to the line for the purpose of warning the driver of the oncoming express. He was cut to pieces by the engine and fell into the flooded Loire. •The two leading coaches of the train overturned and slid completely into the river. An exploration of the submerged carriages disclosed that they were empty. How the occupants escaped is a mystery. Apparently the enginedriver was the only one killed, but many have been taken to hospital. Survivors are arriving at Nantes in taxis and ambulances. The rescuers were handicapped by darkness, mud and the flood waters, and were unable to reach the first coach, a first-class one, for some time. The track was a tangled mass of rails, planks and twisted chassis among which volunteers worked iii the light of flares, seeking the injured. , The smash occurred just before midnight.