“REALLY SHOCKING”
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.
