The passenger train carrying more than thirty people onboard derailed in the southern French Alps on Saturday after being hit by a huge rock.
Officials said the rock crashed into the wagon from the mountains with an extraordinary force.
The incident happened near the town of Annot as the train was heading to the capital of the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence from the coastal city of Nice.
Two helicopters and 110 firefighters as well as several medical teams have been sent to the scene to save the people trapped inside the train.
Emergency services issued a “red alert” after the train service from Nice to the town of Digne-les-Bains suffered the accident amid heavy snow.
According to authorities at the scene one of the accident, nine wounded people were in critical condition with the train’s driver among those who were slightly injured.
“A rockfall occurred when the train was passing and caused the derailment," said Jean-Yves Petit, the vice president of the regional authority in charge of transport.
The authorities said the rescue operation was being hampered by the snow and the remote location of the stricken train.
Dignes-les-Bain, the local capital of the department of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, lies about 50 miles north-west of Nice. The railway line between them crosses several Alpine ranges.
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