A train driver has died after his high-speed passenger train collided with a lorry carrying military equipment at a level crossing in France.
A number of injuries have also been reported following the incident, which took place on Tuesday morning between Béthune and Lens in the north-western Pas-de-Calais region.
Two people were critically injured while 11 others sustained minor injuries, French media reports.
The region's President Xavier Bertrand confirmed the death of the TGV driver and described the accident as a terrible tragedy.
My thoughts are with his family, his loved ones and all the staff who are mourning his loss, he wrote on social media.
French Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot said he was heading to the scene along with the head of France's state-owned rail operator SNCF.
Tabarot confirmed that the collision involved a heavy goods vehicle, with reports indicating it was a truck transporting military equipment.
The incident occurred shortly before 07:00 local time (05:00 GMT).
The train had been travelling from Dunkirk to Paris.
The regional rail network, TER Hauts-de-France, announced that traffic between Béthune and Lens would be disrupted until mid-morning, with services on certain lines resuming gradually.
SNCF has been contacted for comment, while its Chief Executive Officer Jean Castex has yet to issue a public statement.
Rail union SUD-Rail has called for total transparency regarding the incident.
This incident follows a similar tragedy less than two weeks prior, when a person died in a collision between a regional train and a truck in the south-eastern Var region.
Although collisions at level crossings in France are relatively rare, they are significantly more common than in the UK, with 89 incidents reported in 2024 leading to 20 deaths.
More than 100 collisions were registered annually from 2021 to 2023.
