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Five people died and at least seven were injured when a high speed train derailed in France during the country's highest ever terror alert.

Early reports suggest the TGV 2369 test train caught fire before overturning and smashing onto its side in Eckwersheim, near to Strasbourg this afternoon.

The train is thought to have been undergoing a trial run when witnesses said it hit a nearby bridge just before setting fire.

Crash scene investigators are probing whether the derailment was caused by "excessive speed".

Pictures show the charred remains of several overturned carriages with two partially submerged into a lake.

An aerial shot, taken from a helicopter passing overhead, shows the wreckage is sprawled across several hundred yards.

Emergency services on the ground were tending to casualties at 3.30pm when an air ambulance arrived on the scene.

Police divers were frantically searching the lake for more survivors.

(Image: Reuters) (Image: REUTERS/Vincent Kessler)

As of yet there are no direct links with the terrorist attacks on Paris that killed over 120 people last night.

Reporting from the scene, French journalist Aurélien Poivret said early indications suggest the train crash was not caused deliberately.

The train was travelling on the first part of a newly-opened line near to the German border.

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.

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