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PARIS - A crowded, rush-hour commuter train crashed into buffers at the Gare de l'Est in Paris yesterday morning injuring 71 passengers.
The double-decker train was travelling at only about five miles an hour but many standing passengers were hurled to the ground and suffered concussion, broken noses or ribs and other minor injuries.
The regional train from Aisne in northern France slowed on entering the station but failed to stop at the end of the platform.
An investigation has been launched to decide whether the error was technical or human.
Many passengers instinctively blamed the driver.
"At the front of the train, people were banging on the windows of the driver's cabin. It looked like they wanted to lynch him," one passenger said.
The French national railways, the SNCF, have an excellent safety record.
Yesterday's accident - though relatively minor - will cause awkward questions to be asked.
The independent French railway drivers' union, the FGAAC, expressed its regrets for what it described as an "unfortunate and extremely rare accident".
Passengers' injuries included fractured ribs, broken noses, knee injuries and concussion.
Fifty-eight of those hurt were taken to hospitals in the Paris region.
Roger, 58, a passenger on the train, said, "because the train was late, lots of people were standing up, ready to get off."
"There was a violent impact, it felt like a bullet had hit me in the back. At first I thought we must have crashed into another train in front of us. I was surprised when the SNCF announced there were no serious injuries."
Officials said that safety devices would have slowed the train down to 10kph automatically as it entered one of the French capital's busiest stations.
However, the final halting of the train was in the hands of the driver.
The speed of the train when it struck the buffers is estimated to have been between 5 and 7 kph.
No technical problems had been reported by the driver. He was taken for questioning by police.
The French Transport Minister, Dominic Perben, ordered a technical enquiry.
The head of the Ile-de-France regional railway network Thierry Migauw said, "the investigation will determine whether there was a problem with the braking system, or whether it was the manual control of the brakes that was inadequate."
Serious train accidents are rare in France.
The last fatal crash involved a local passenger train and a freight train on the French-Luxembourg border in October of last year. Six people died.
A signalling error in Luxembourg was found to be to blame.
- INDEPENDENT
