Two people died Sunday in Ain. Their vehicle was hit by a TER linking Belfort to Lyon Perrache. An investigation was initiated to determine the exact causes of the accident. According to the first hypotheses, the semi-barriers were lowered when the train passed.

New drama Sunday on a level crossing at a place called Vavrette, Tossiat. The TER linking Belfort to Lyon Perrache, carrying 620 passengers on board, struck and crushed a car at the level crossing. Two people, the occupants of the vehicle, were killed. There were also three minor injuries among the passengers on the train. The latter was immobilized for three hours on the tracks before leaving shortly before 21 hours.

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The traffic was interrupted throughout the evening. An investigation was opened to find out the exact causes of the accident. All the evening investigators have searched the way and inspected the signaling system of the crossing. They were looking for tire marks or braking. The train driver was heard for a long time.

The central question of the position of the barriers

The investigators are investigating whether the crossing gates were closed at the time of the accident. According to two witnesses heard, they were after. "The first gendarmes who arrived on the spot saw the barriers lowered," said the Ain gendarmerie colonel, Yannick Bellemin, which is why we are moving towards the hypothesis of forcing or a unauthorized passage on the track. "

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This crossing is one of 153 crossings in a "national safety program". In 2007, one person died in a collision between a truck and a freight train at the same crossing. Since then, a gantry had been installed to prevent the passage of trucks. "The crossing is secured by half-barriers," says Yannick Bellemin, "they would not stop someone from going right and doing a slalom."

According to the initial findings of the investigation, there is however nothing wrong with the level of the train. Unlike the accident in the Ardennes a few days ago, resulting in a series of work stoppage of railway workers, a controller was well on board.