The Albany Gazette - Toll from French tram crash rises to 68 injured

On Saturday afternoon, a stationary tram at the underground stop at Strasbourg's main railway station was violently hit by another tram, which began to move backwards for unknown reasons.

The moving tram, which had stopped due to a traffic jam, reversed and rolled down a slope leading to the station.

Both trams carried dozens of passengers.

As a result of the collision, 68 people were injured, according to the prefecture, which released an updated toll Sunday.

Around a hundred people escaped unharmed.

The collision occurred near Strasbourg's main train station, one of the busiest in France outside of Paris.

Video footage posted online showed chaotic scenes with the two trams significantly damaged, an alarm going off and people screaming.

"The tram set off again at full speed towards the station," said Romaric Koumba, one of the passengers.

"As we were setting off again towards the station, we realised that there was already another tram that had returned to the station. This tram was at a standstill, thank God," said Romaric Koumba, one of the passengers.

"When the tram collided with the other one, the doors flew off," he added.

Another witness, Johan Kirschenbaum, said the moving train apparently had a problem with the brakes.

"We heard a big impact, a big bang," he said.

- 'Very shocked' drivers -

On Saturday, Rene Cellier, director of the Bas-Rhin fire and rescue service, said that around 50 people suffered non-fatal injuries such as scalp wounds, clavicle fractures, and knee sprains. "Mostly trauma," Cellier said.

Cellier said that the situation "could have been much more serious".

The public prosecutor's office said an investigation into "unintentional injuries" had been opened, with the aim of determining the cause of the accident and identifying any criminal liability.

Prosecutors said the collision was not deliberate.

"An initial investigation has ruled out the hypothesis of an intentional act," said Alexandre Chevrier, the acting public prosecutor.

The two drivers were not injured but were "very shocked," said the director of the Strasbourg transport company (CTS), Emmanuel Auneau.

Tram traffic at the railway station has been suspended for several days, the company said.

Julien Joly, a transport and mobility expert at the consulting firm Wavestone, said collisions between trams were rare.

"The accident occurred in the worst place on the network, in a tunnel and in a very dense area," he added.

But Joly also said commuters could be reassured that trams remain "a safe mode of transport."

Strasbourg was the first major French city to re-introduce trams in 1994, after the service was closed in 1960.

The city saw a similar accident in 1998 when one tram collided with another in the same tunnel, wounding 17 people.

Located in the historic region of Alsace that shares borders with Germany and Switzerland, the city is the official seat of the European Parliament.

(N.Miller--TAG)