Train derails in France and injures 44 as authorities investigate possible sabotage

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French authorities are investigating whether sabotage caused a train derailment that injured 44 people in Normandy, after a piece of rail was found on the track, police told The Associated Press on Saturday.

The regional train was carrying 186 passengers from Rouen to Caen when it derailed Friday evening at Cléon, in the Seine-Maritime department of northwestern France.

An 18-year-old woman was among the injured and was evacuated by helicopter to Rouen University Hospital, police said.

A spokeswoman for the French national police communications service, known as SICOP, said that the piece of rail found on the track was “probably” linked to the derailment. She spoke on condition of anonymity because she wasn’t authorized to be publicly named in line with police policy.

Investigators were working to establish whether the circumstances were accidental or involved sabotage, the service said. The prosecutor’s office remained cautious about drawing conclusions, according to the police.

France’s previous rail disasters include the July 2013 derailment at Brétigny-sur-Orge, south of Paris, which killed seven people.

In November 2015, a high-speed TGV train carrying out tests derailed at Eckwersheim, near Strasbourg, killing 11.

More recently, a crash involving two high-speed trains at Adamuz in southern Spain killed 46 people and injured more than 100 in January, according to the Andalusian regional government.

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法国警方周六告诉美联社，在铁轨上发现了一段铁轨后，法国当局正在调查诺曼底火车脱轨事故是否是人为破坏造成的，该事故导致 44 人受伤。

周五晚上，一列载有 186 名乘客的区域列车从鲁昂开往卡昂，在法国西北部滨海塞纳省的克莱昂脱轨。

警方称，一名18岁女子也在伤者之列，已被直升机送往鲁昂大学医院。

法国国家警察通讯服务中心（SICOP）的一位发言人表示，在铁轨上发现的铁轨碎片“可能”与脱轨事故有关。她要求匿名，因为根据警方规定，她未被授权公开姓名。

调查人员正在努力查明事件是意外事故还是人为破坏，该部门表示。据警方称，检察官办公室对得出结论仍持谨慎态度。

法国此前发生的铁路灾难包括 2013 年 7 月发生在巴黎南部布雷蒂尼-奥尔日的脱轨事故，该事故造成 7 人死亡。

2015 年 11 月，一列正在进行测试的高速列车 TGV 在斯特拉斯堡附近的埃克韦尔斯海姆脱轨，造成 11 人死亡。

据安达卢西亚地区政府称，今年 1 月，西班牙南部阿达穆斯发生两列高速列车相撞事故，造成 46 人死亡，100 多人受伤。