A loose rail is believed to have caused a train crash in France that's killed at least six people and injured dozens. Rescue workers on Saturday were still sifting through the twisted wreckage searching for possible survivors.
BBC quotes the state rail company SNCF as saying a metal bar connecting two rails came loose somewhere near the Paris suburb of Bretigny-sur-Orge.
Some 30 people were injured, several seriously, in the crash when the inter-city train carrying 385 passengers veered off the track en route from the French capital to Limoges. Reuters calls it the worst rail accident in France in a quarter-century.
Reuters reports:
"Workers spent the night cutting through tangled metal, but found no more victims. Authorities said the toll could rise if more victims were found in the wreckage or if any of the nine seriously wounded passengers died.
A crane was brought to the crash site to lift a carriage that fell onto its side and others torn open in the accident."
Update At 8:55 a.m. ET:
Reuters quotes Pierre Izard, head of infrastructure services at SNCF, as saying the metal bar in question became dislodged and moved to the middle of the track junction.
NPR's Eleanor Beardsley, reporting from Paris, says officials say the death toll is not yet final. They are awaiting the arrival of a giant crane that will pick up the derailed cars and look for bodies underneath.
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