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Updated: 18:18
(Image: STR/AP/PA)
TWO WOMEN WERE killed when a massive falling boulder hit a passing train in the French Alps on today, leaving one of its carriages dangling precariously off a steep, snow-covered embankment.
Eight people were injured in the accident which took place as the train travelled from the coastal city of Nice to the popular tourist town of Digne-les-Bains along a narrow, winding, and sometimes breathtakingly steep track.
A 49-year-old Russian woman was killed along with an 82-year-old Frenchwoman living in the Alps region, said local prosecutor Stephane Kellenberger, adding that 34 people had been on board the train.
The Russian woman’s husband, in deep shock, was among at least eight people injured. Witnesses said an enormous boulder had struck the train, violently throwing one of its two carriages off the track.
Images of the accident show the carriage hanging off the edge of a ravine, with a large crater in its side as the other carriage teeters on the edge.
(Image: STR/AP/PA)
“It was as if the boulder fell from the sky, like in an earthquake,” said traveller Jean-Jacques Messaoud, 47, who said he had seen a victim bleeding heavily.
Another passenger, Floriane Bonnet, was at the back of the train when the accident happened.
“I didn’t understand, I was thrown to the left and I saw the first half of the train go down the embankment. I tried to break a window but couldn’t manage it so I left through the front.”
Firefighters from around the mountainous region were drafted in to help in the rescue operation in a remote and mountainous area difficult to access due to the snow and steep slope.
A total of 110 firefighters and 32 vehicles were deployed, as well as two helicopters.
Pine Cone Train
The railway, known as the Train des Pignes (Pine Cone Train), is hugely popular among tourists, taking them on a picturesque 151-kilometre journey from the sea to the mountains of Haute-Provence.
Over 100 years old, the railway crosses some 30 bridges and viaducts and 25 tunnels through valleys and gorges on an often hair-raising journey at up to 1,000 metres above sea level. The train used for the line is modern, having been put in service in 2011, according to a local transport official.
The train’s name is said to come from the fact that it was so slow it allowed travellers to get off and pick up pine cones from the side of the tracks.
Others believe it was so named because pine cones were used as tinder to fire up the original steam engine when the line was opened in 1911.
French Transport Minister Frederic Cuvillier was to visit the scene of the accident on Saturday afternoon.
In July, seven people were killed when a commuter train derailed near Paris.
- © AFP 2014.
First published 14:21
Heard about this story through the grapevine yesterday……
Song number 2 won’t pay for me….
Neither will play for me. Does this mean they’re the same?
Might help if you could play them?
‘This video is not available’
Ditto
Song two broke
Robbin’ Thicko.
Where’s the option for they don’t sound alike, because they don’t sound alike?
Ian dempsey played blurred lines a few weeks ago. ..the very last thing I ever want to hear again is the song finishing and Ian continuing with ‘I know you want it..’ puke!
Ian has recently taken to singing the last few lines of another song in an Irish /Caribbean accent “all about da bass, da bass” Makes me want to eat my own face!
Reminds me of the great Morecambe and Wise sketch when playing for Andre Previn – and he tells Eric that he’s playing the wrong notes – ‘i’m playing the right notes – but not necessarily in the right order’.
Another rip off, if you look hard enough you’ll probably find a lot of modern songs do this. I remember people used to say Kid Rock was putting his own twist on Sweet Home Alabama with that summer song he had, turned out he’d taken the whole thing from another song called Werewolves of London. In his case I think he had permission but he just keeps it quiet so people think he wrote it himself. A lot of these so-called musicians’ only talent is being marketable. It’s even more obvious now the only reason Pharrell Williams was brought in for Blurred Lines was exposure, not for his musical ability because they already had the bones of the song and anyone could turn Gaye’s into Thicke’s with the software that’s available now. It’s a soulless industry now.
Does there come a point where modern pop simply runs out of notes to play an starts to consume itself?
Anyhow, never mind all that. To my ears, pop music a la Spin South West sounds bloody awful. If young people were listening to stuff I liked that would be more of a concern. C’mon da Biffy an all that.
Anyone notice how much Dylan’s “With God on our Side” sounds like “The Patriot Game” by our very own Dominic Behan?
There’s a true scandal.
Play *
This non playback situation is happening regularly on the Journal. Why don’t you check what you’re posting guys as its very annoying and amateurish.
Video playback restricted on certain sites….?
have your say