'Many casualties' in Paris train derailment

At least seven people are believed dead and several injured after a packed passenger train derailed outside Paris, France’s interior minister says.

Manuel Valls told reporters at least seven people are believed dead and several dozen injured, but added that the casualty toll is “in constant evolution”.

Très grave accident sur le train Paris-Orléans-Limoges qui a déraillé en gare de Brétigny-sur-Orge. Au moins 8 morts pic.twitter.com/thr6bbAha6

— Orléans Actu (@orleansactus) July 12, 2013

The SNCF national rail authority says the train was carrying some 385 passengers when it derailed at 5:15 pm and crashed into the station at Bretigny-sur-Orge, some 20 km (12 miles) south of Paris.

The train was heading for Limoges.

SNCF official Jean-Paul Boulet says four carriages piled up after the train derailed. He could not confirm reports that passengers were still trapped inside.

A passenger speaking on France’s BFM television said the train was going at a normal speed and was not meant to stop at Bretigny-sur-Orge.

Two train cars, cars number three and four, initially derailed, then knocked the other cars off the track, SNCF chief Guillaume Pepy said. “Some cars simply derailed, others are leaning, others fell over,” he said.

All trains from Paris’ Gare d’Austerlitz were suspended after the accident.