RAILWAY SMASH IN FRANCE.

Press, Volume LXVI, Issue 20093, 24 November 1930, Page 11

RAILWAY SMASH IN FRANCE.

CARS FALL INTO RIVER. (UJTITED FBE33 ASSOCIATION —B1 BLECTBIt' TBLKGEAFH—COPTiIIQHT.) (Received November 23rd, 5.5 p.m.) PARIS, November 22. A train travelling from Paris to Nantes was derailed by the subsidence of the track between Oudon and Cler-mont-sur-Loira aa a result of heavy rains. The signalman at Clermont, who rushed the the line for the purpose of warning the driver of the oncoming express, was cut to pieces by the engine, and fell into the flooded Loire. The two leading coacliea overturned and slid completely into the river. It was thought that nearly all the passengers in them had met a horrible death; but an exploration of the uubmerged cars disclosed that they were empty. How the occupants escaped is p mystery. Apparently the engine-driver was the only person killed, but many were taken to hospital. The injured are arriving at Nantea in taxis and ambulances. The rescuers were nanclicnppecl by darkness, mml. and flood waters. The track was a tangled mass or rails, planks, and the twisted chassis of the coaches, among which volunteers worked in the light of flares, seeking the injured. The smash occurred just before midnight.