Originally published on February 9, 2014
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A large boulder that broke away from a mountain in the French Alps derailed a popular tourist train on Saturday (February 8), killing two and injuring nine passengers.
The two-carriage train was carrying 34 passengers as it headed from Nice to the Alpine resort of Digne-les-Bain on Saturday morning. A huge falling rock, which officials say may have weighed as much as 20 tonnes, broke away from the mountain and crashed directly into the train, derailing it. One car was pushed completely clear of the railway, being held up by trees while the other remained mostly on the tracks.
The two passengers who were killed have been identified as a French woman from the region and a Russian woman who was traveling with her husband. Of the nine people injured, at least one was seriously hurt.
The train line is popular with tourists between the villages of Saint-Benoit and Annot in southeastern France.
Reuters reports, "Officials said it was the first such accident known on the line and it was unclear why such a large rock fell.
"'It is too early to establish what were the factors, notably the weather conditions, that may have led to this boulder to break off,' Transport Minister Frederic Cuvillier told reporters.
"Southeastern France has experienced extremely wet weather in the past month, leading to flooding in the coastal Var region and mirroring floods in the northwest.
"Netting is used along the line to prevent rockfalls, local officials added."
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