Train passengers' horror as high-speed TGV pulls into French station with body of cyclist crushed onto its front... 25 MILES after accident took place

  • The 48-year-old cyclist was hit and killed in village of Petit-Croix, France
  • But drivers didn't notice and he wasn't seen until end of line in Mulhouse
  • It happened on the Paris to Mulhouse TGV service yesterday afternoon
  • French TGVs travel at speeds of up to 200mph

By Peter Allen for MailOnline

Published: | Updated:


Train passengers in France greeted their afternoon TGV service with horror yesterday when it pulled in to the station with the body of a dead cyclist crushed onto its front.

Drivers of the Paris to Mulhouse high-speed locomotive initially failed to notice the accident in the village of Petit-Croix, near Belfort, in eastern France, on Sunday.

Shockingly, the unidentified 48-year-old victim was therefore carried for 25 miles across the French countryside on the nose of the service before it was spotted at the end of the line.

It meant that passengers waiting at Mulhouse saw the grisly remains as the train pulled in, with many expressing horror and anguish.

Grisly: Drivers of the Paris to Mulhouse service initially failed to notice the accident in the village of Petit-Croix, near Belfort, in eastern France, on Sunday afternoon (stock image)

Grisly: Drivers of the Paris to Mulhouse service initially failed to notice the accident in the village of Petit-Croix, near Belfort, in eastern France, on Sunday afternoon (stock image)

'It was an upsetting sight,' said a spokesman for SNCF, France's national railway. 'The body was stuck on to the front of the train, but out of the vision of those in the driver's car.'

The spokesman made it clear that such incidents were 'relatively rare' and said that a criminal enquiry had been launched. Passengers and rail staff were receiving counselling for emotional trauma.

The dead man has not been publicly named, but was 48, and has been identified thanks to personal property discovered around his bike.

Horror: It meant that passengers waiting at Mulhouse (pictured) saw the grisly remains as the train pulled in, with many expressing horror and anguish

Horror: It meant that passengers waiting at Mulhouse (pictured) saw the grisly remains as the train pulled in, with many expressing horror and anguish

'Gendarmes found the bicycle at Petit-Croix,' said a local police spokesman. 'The remains are being examined for clues as to exactly what happened.'

The macabre incident would have been picked up by CCTV footage, both at the crossing and at other points along the line.

French TGVs travel at speeds of up to 200mph, making security a constant headache for the authorities.

Advertisement

TGV train pulls into French station with body of cyclist crushed onto its front

Most watched News videos