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| French Alps: Rock derails Nice to Digne-les-Bains train | |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Two people were killed when a falling boulder derailed a tourist train in the southern French Alps, local officials and firefighters say. | |
| At least nine people were injured. | |
| The train was travelling from Nice to the town of Digne-les-Bains on a line which crosses gorges and viaducts at up to 1,000m (3,200ft) above sea level. | The train was travelling from Nice to the town of Digne-les-Bains on a line which crosses gorges and viaducts at up to 1,000m (3,200ft) above sea level. |
| Images from the scene show the two-carriage train dangling from the tracks, the side of one carriage caved in by the rock. | |
| One of the injured is said to be in a critical condition, while the others, including the driver, are reported to have sustained lighter injuries. | |
| There were a total of 34 people on board at the time of the accident, AFP news agency reports. | |
| The agency adds that a total of 110 firefighters and 32 vehicles were deployed from around the region, as well as two helicopters. | |
| They are said to have encountered difficulties in reaching the accident because of heavy snow and the isolated location. | |
| "A rockfall occurred when the train was passing and caused the derailment," Jean-Yves Petit, vice president of the regional authority in charge of transport, told Reuters news agency. | |
| Local mayor Jean Ballester told BFM television that the boulder fell from the mountain "with an extraordinary force''. |