Paris, France: France's interior minister on Sunday urged caution as authorities investigated the derailment of a train that injured 44 people, amid questions over whether the incident could have been an act of sabotage.
The train, carrying 186 passengers, derailed on Friday between the Normandy cities of Rouen and Caen in northwestern France, leaving many badly shaken, officials said.
According to prosecutors, a section of rail found on the track may have caused the derailment.
Herve Morin, president of the Normandy region, said the rail fragment found on the tracks weighed around 300 kilograms.
The possibility of foul play has been raised, notably by police sources and political figures, including Morin and Nice mayor Eric Ciotti.
Authorities have sought to temper those suggestions.
"We must remain extremely cautious," Interior Minister Laurent Nunez told broadcaster France 2 on Sunday, adding that authorities were pursuing all leads and "none is being prioritised."
Nunez said that if the derailment turned out to be "a malicious act, it would be extremely serious."
Asked about a possible involvement of far-left groups, Nunez said such a scenario "did not fit" their usual methods.
"They generally target signalling equipment," he said, adding that "they tend to avoid causing casualties."
A railway industry source, speaking to AFP on Sunday, said questions persisted over the presence of the rail section they said weighed around 300 to 350 kilograms.
The source said the track had been used "an hour earlier by a train travelling in the same direction" and "half an hour earlier by a train going the other way."
"The driver of that train saw nothing, even though train crews are instructed to watch for and report anomalies," the source said, adding there was no maintenance work at the site at the time.
"Early evidence suggests that whoever did this followed the train service's schedule to avoid being detected. There had to be several of them to move that section of track," the source said.
Prosecutor Sebastien Gallois said on Saturday that it was not clear why the rail fragment was present on the tracks.
The incident, already the subject of a judicial investigation, also prompted the opening of a technical inquiry, Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot said.
