Train driver killed as high-speed train hits army lorry in northern France

Train driver killed as high-speed train hits army lorry in northern France
A TGV high speed train leaves a railway station in Paris, France, April 18, 2025.
Reuters

A train driver has died and several passengers have been injured after a high-speed train collided with an army lorry carrying military equipment at a level crossing in northern France on Tuesday morning (7 April), the local prefecture and railway operators said in separate statements. 

Additionally, 16 people were injured and two were in critical condition, the prefecture said. More than 200 passengers were on the train at the time of the crash, it added.

It happened at around 7 a.m. (0500 GMT) near the town of Bully-les-Mines railway operator SNCF said in a separate statement.

French Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot said the accident occurred between the city of Lens and the town of Béthune in the Pas-de-Calais region, in a post on social media platform X.

“All our thoughts are with our colleague who died on the job,” he added.

He said he would travel to the scene of the accident and had spoken with the head of France’s state-owned railway company, SNCF.

In another post on X, Regional rail operator TER said services on the Béthune–Lens line would be “interrupted until the end of the day.”

Fabien Villedieu, an official from the SUD Rail trade union, said the injuries sustained by passengers were not life-threatening, in a post on X.

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