An Eritrean migrant died and three others, compatriots, were slightly injured on Friday at Valenciennes station, victims of an “electric arc” as they tried to get on a freight wagon, which finally caught fire.
“Factually there is a death, a body on the way,” told AFP the head of the Departmental Directorate of Public Security in the North, Thierry Courtecuisse.
“One person died, electrified on the freight wagon. Four other people were transported to the hospital, slightly injured, rather shocked than anything else”, declared the general controller of the firefighters of the North, Gilles Grégoire, specifying that it was about the “final assessment”, the rubble of the wagon having been searched.
The fourth “injured” is an SNCF employee, “especially shocked”, while two firefighters were also slightly injured, according to firefighters.
According to the prosecutor of Valenciennes, Jean-Philippe Vicentini, present on the spot, the victims are all of Eritrean nationality. “These are migrants, who could be minors,” he added.
“Apparently, the one who died would have climbed on the wagon and would have triggered the electric arc”, specified the magistrate.
The fire was brought under control by early evening.
According to the mayor of Valenciennes, Laurent Degallaix, the train was to “go back to Calais”, where hundreds of migrants are flocking to try to cross into England.
Death on impact
“Migrants infiltrated and climbed onto the wagon which was covered. The first one who climbed made a common thread, with an electric arc, and the wagon caught fire, ”he explained to AFP.
The first migrant to be mounted “was thrown to the ground and died instantly”, he added. “His comrades were injured.”
The fire started in a wagon containing tires, which caused an impressive column of smoke, with, according to the firefighters, a “high risk of spreading to two refrigerated wagons and a TER”.
The SNCF for its part announced an “accidental” fire, specifying that the station had been evacuated and the traffic interrupted.
“The station platforms are damaged, the train next to it is damaged, the station closed until tomorrow,” said Laurent Degallaix.
The prefect of the North, Georges-François Leclerc, went there, noted an AFP journalist.
Firefighters had also set up a tent in front of a medical vehicle outside the station, around which a security perimeter was established.
Forty migrants dead since 2021
Other migrants have, in recent months, died on railway tracks in Hauts-de-France.
A Sudanese migrant was killed on March 1 when he was hit by a train near Calais as he was walking along the railway line.
On November 4, a train hit a group of four migrants traveling on the tracks between Dunkirk and Calais, causing one death, one serious injury and two minor injuries.
Attempts to cross by sea to England left 38 dead in 2021, according to a report from the maritime prefecture and a candidate for exile died at sea in January.