The train crash today at Bretigny-sur-Orge station, in which a train carrying hundreds of passengers derailed and crashed into a station outside Paris, is the deadliest France has seen in years. French President Francois Hollande is abandoning his plans for the major holiday weekend to visit the scene, the Washington Post reports.
One witness, 19, who was on a nearby train at the time told Le Parisien newspaper: "I heard a loud noise. A cloud of sand covered everything. Then the dust dissipated. I thought it was a freight train, but then we saw the first casualties...Many passengers on the [train] were crying."
Some cars of the train slid towards the station, crushing part of the train's metallic roof on the platform, images on French television depicting a scene of shredded metal, shards and debris from the crash.
Guillaume Pepy, head of the SNCF rail authority, called it "a catastrophe."
"Some cars simply derailed, others are leaning, others fell over," he said to the Associated Press. He explained that cars No. 3 and 4 derailed before knocking the other cars off the track. So far the cause of the derailment is yet unknown.
Interior Minister Manuel Valls said that at least seven people are believed to have been killed in the accident, and dozens more injured.
"The death toll is evolving constantly at this point and unfortunately it will probably rise," French Interior Minister Manuel Valls told Reuters. "At this stage there are seven people dead, several dozen wounded and some of them are serious."
"Most of the people who suffered minor injuries have been taken care of. We are going to have to empty the carriages completely to see if there are victims or not," local lawmaker Michel Pouzol told Reuters.
The train accident tragically marks the beginning of the country's most important national holiday, Bastille Day, on Sunday, with masses of people leaving Paris to vacation to other big cities or visit families.
Click here to see a photo and here for another of the train crash's aftermath in France.
