
At least seven people were killed and ten injured after a high speed train came off the tracks and plunged into a canal in France.

The train was undergoing a test run when it burst into flames, split apart and veered off a bridge just outside Eckwersheim, Strasbourg.

The TGV test train, which had 49 people on board, was going to fast and skipped off the tracks near the German border, said spokeswoman Viviane Chevallier of the Bas-Rhin region

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A train has derailed near the French city of Strasbourg, killing five and injuring seven

Rescue workers search the wreckage of a test TGV train that derailed and crashed in a canal outside Eckwersheim near Strasbourg

Rescue workers assist a victim near the wreckage of a test TGV train that derailed and crashed in France today

Train was travelling down new train line between Paris and Strasbourg, for the very first time when it came off the tracks

Rescuers work at the scene where a high-speed TGV train coach and engine carriage lie in a canal in Eckwersheim near Strasbourg

Large parts of the train broke off from its carriages after it came off a bridge and fell into a canal

Rescue workers were seen approaching the mangled wreckage of the train on rubber dinghies

In a statement, French President Francois Hollande's office said the train was not running on a line used by commercial trains. His office said 10 people were gravely injured. Ms Chevallier had said earlier 11 people were severely injured.

Five helicopters were deployed to evacuate the injured to hospital in the nearby city of Strasbourg. Two government ministers were en route to the site.

Rescue workers were seen approaching the mangled train on rubber dinghies and tending to the wounded by the side of the canal.

The train derailed because it was travelling at 'excessive speed' but it is not known whether the final death toll will rise, it was reported.

SNCF, France's national state owned railway, refused to provide further details. The train crashed on the new high speed line between Paris and Strasbourg which has never been used before.

A high-seepd TGV train coach and engine carriage lie in a canal in the Bas-Rhin department of Alsace in north eastern France

Rescue workers carry a victim from the wreckage of a test TGV train that derailed because it was travelling at 'excessive speed', according to reports

Rescue workers search the wreckage of a test TGV train that was travelling on the high speed line between Paris and Strasbourg for the very first time

At least five were killed in the French high-speed train test today due to excessive speed, sources said

The train derailed while crossing a bridge and its carriages fell into the Marne-Rhine canal

Rescue workers carry a victim of the train crash away from the scene of the wreckage in a stretcher

SNCF, France's national state owned railway, refused to provide further details about the crash

The second section of the Paris-Strasbourg high-speed TGV line, on which the crash happened, is set to open for service in April 2016

The second section of the Paris-Strasbourg high-speed TGV line, on which the crash happened, is set to open for service in April 2016.

It derailed while crossing a bridge and its carriages fell into the Marne-Rhine canal, witnesses have said.