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Two trams collided in a tunnel in France on Saturday afternoon injuring around fifty people, local authorities said.
The crash occurred in the eastern city of Strasbourg after one of the trams switched tracks and collided with a stationary tram at the city’s central station, French broadcaster BFM TV said.
“Around fifty people are in a state of relative emergency, with injuries such as scalp wounds, clavicle fractures and knee sprains. But there are no critical injuries. It could have been much worse,” Mr Cellier said.
Of the fifty people injured, fifteen were evacuated to the hospital. An additional 100 people, though uninjured, were assessed for shock or stress, he added.
Emergency services deployed 130 firefighters, 50 rescue vehicles and established a wide safety perimeter.
The exact cause of the collision was unclear but local media reported that one of the trams was reversing at the time.
Strasbourg’s Mayor Jeanne Barseghian and other top officials rushed to the station, where a video posted by a witness on social media showed a chaotic scene with the two trams significantly damaged in a tunnel near the station.
The footage appeared to show panicked travellers on the station platform attempting to prize open a tram’s doors.
One of the trams appeared to have derailed as a result of the impact, and smoke filled the underground station.
A large security perimeter was set up in front of the station, where numerous ambulances took up position, according to a journalist at the scene working for France’s AFP news agency.
Paramedics and firefighters were seen loading injured people secured on stretchers into ambulances.
Johan, a witness who declined to give his last name, said that one of the trams reversed at full speed. “There was a problem with the brakes,” he told AFP. “We heard a big impact, a big bang.”
“There was a brutal collision between two trams on the platform under the station,” Ms Barseghian told reporters.
“It was indeed a head-on collision after a tram reversed. We will have to wait for the conclusions of the investigation to know the causes of this accident,” she added.
A manager from the public transport company Compagnie de transports strasbourgeois (CTS) said the two tram drivers escaped injury but were “obviously in shock.”
Philippe Tabarot, France’s transport minister, said that an investigation had been launched to “clarify the circumstances.”
Pierre Jakubowicz, a municipal councillor in Strasbourg, posted online: “Major tram collision at Strasbourg station. Support and recognition for the emergency services mobilised and all my thoughts for the injured.”
Bas-Rhin Fire and Rescue Service said on X: “Tram accident at the Gare Centrale stop at Strasbourg. Numerous resources were mobilised.
“Avoid the areas of Place des Halles, Gare, Boulevard du Président Wilson and facilitate access for emergency services.”
Strasbourg was the first major French city to install a tram network, starting in 1994. Strasbourg saw a similar incident in 1998 when one tramway collided with another in the same tunnel, wounding 17 people.
Located in the historic region of Alsace, the city is the official seat of the European Parliament.
