ATTENTION EDITORS - VISUAL COVERAGE OF SCENES OF INJURY Rescue workers assist a victim near the wreckage of a test TGV train that derailed and crashed in a canal outside Eckwersheim near Strasbourg, eastern France, November 14, 2015. REUTERS/Vincent Kessler

ATTENTION EDITORS - VISUAL COVERAGE OF SCENES OF INJURY Rescue workers carry a victim from the wreckage of a test TGV train that derailed and crashed in a canal outside Eckwersheim near Strasbourg, eastern France, November 14, 2015. REUTERS/Vincent Kessler TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

Rescue workers search the wreckage of a test TGV train that derailed and crashed in a canal outside Eckwersheim near Strasbourg, eastern France, November 14, 2015. REUTERS/Vincent Kessler

Rescue workers search the wreckage of a test TGV train that derailed and crashed in a canal outside Eckwersheim near Strasbourg, eastern France, November 14, 2015. REUTERS/Vincent Kessler

Rescue workers search the wreckage of a test TGV train that derailed and crashed in a canal outside Eckwersheim near Strasbourg, eastern France, November 14, 2015. REUTERS/Vincent Kessler

Rescue workers search the wreckage of a test TGV train that derailed and crashed in a canal outside Eckwersheim near Strasbourg, eastern France, November 14, 2015. REUTERS/Vincent Kessler

Rescue workers search the wreckage of a test TGV train that derailed and crashed in a canal outside Eckwersheim near Strasbourg, eastern France, November 14, 2015. REUTERS/Vincent Kessler

Rescue workers search the wreckage of a test TGV train that derailed and crashed in a canal outside Eckwersheim near Strasbourg, eastern France, November 14, 2015. REUTERS/Vincent Kessler

Rescue workers on a small boat search the wreckage of a test TGV train that derailed and crashed in a canal outside Eckwersheim near Strasbourg, eastern France, November 14, 2015. REUTERS/Vincent Kessler

Rescue workers search the wreckage of a test TGV train that derailed and crashed in a canal outside Eckwersheim near Strasbourg, eastern France, November 14, 2015. REUTERS/Vincent Kessler TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

Seven people are confirmed dead and 11 injured after a high speed train caught fire and derailed in Strasbourg.

The test train came off the tracks outside Eckwersheim, near Strasbroug, and plunged into a river.

Nombreux blessés pris en charge par pompiers et samu pic.twitter.com/SKiF5mZ71Y — Aurélien Poivret (@AurelienPoivret) November 14, 2015

Nouveau blessé évacué pic.twitter.com/wiPlgsiWKJ — Aurélien Poivret (@AurelienPoivret) November 14, 2015

Vue aérienne du déraillement d'une rame TGV à Eckwersheim, à l'approche de Strasbourg. Sans doute des blesssés. pic.twitter.com/JUHzQEZZPB — France 3 Alsace (@F3Alsace) November 14, 2015

Dramatic pictures on social media showed the train upended and partially submerged in the water.

There has not been any link established with the Paris attacks.

A witness, a teenage girl having a lesson at a nearby riding school, told Dernieres Nouvelles A’Alsace (DNA) she saw the train catch fire and then overturn. It is believed the train may have struck a nearby bridge before catching fire.Emergency services have been deployed to the scene.

Pictures from the scene showed the locomotive partly submerged in a canal alongside the tracks with other parts lying broken and detached in a field beside the track.

French Environment Minister Segolene Royal was en route to the crash scene, the prefecture said.

Emergency services have been deployed and those injured airlifted to nearby hospitals.



Medical units including police divers were spotted at the scene.

It is believed the crash occurred during a test run of the TGV train when the vehicle gained “excessive speed” according to sources speaking to AFP.

Independent News Service