French train derails during heightened alert

Five people have been killed as a train derailed, plunged into a river and caught fire in Eckwersheim near Strasbourg in France.

Rescue teams are working at the site of a high-speed TGV train derailment in northeastern France mid-afternoon on Saturday.

AFP is reporting that the accident was caused by “excessive speed.”

The train derailed while on a bridge and the cars fell into the Marne-Rhine canal, according to witness reports.

Photos from the scene show smoke coming from the carriages.  Seven people are reported injured.

The crash occurred as the country is already at a heightened state of alert following terror attack in Paris Friday night.