A high-speed train collides with a truck in France. The driver is killed and 16 passengers are injured

French media reported on Tuesday that a high-speed train carrying about 250 passengers derailed after colliding with a truck transporting military equipment in northern France.

Authorities reported that 16 people were injured following the accident, the Associated Press reported.

The police station TF1 reported preliminary information stating that the driver of the TGV train had died.

Prosecutor Etienne Tivry told reporters that the truck driver has been detained, and an investigation has been opened into manslaughter under aggravated circumstances, but it is still too early to determine the exact cause of the collision, according to the agency.

Jean Castex, head of the National Railway Authority, said that the railway crossing was working properly.

For his part, French Transport Minister Philippe Tabaro said that he would move to the site of the accident that occurred between the towns of Piton and Lens in the Pas-de-Calais region, with Castex.

Rescue teams were deployed in large numbers.

The accident occurred at a railway crossing in the town of Neu-les-Mines, outside the French high-speed train network. The TGV train was running from Dunkirk to Paris at the speed of a regular train.

The newspaper “La Voix du Nord” (Voice of the North) reported that a train collided with a truck trailer transporting military vehicles shortly before seven in the morning (0500 GMT).

The front of the trailer was severely damaged, as was the truck, according to an Associated Press reporter at the scene. The train remained on the tracks, and the track was closed while emergency teams worked in the area.