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Migrant electrocuted in 'human fireball' after climbing on top of Eurostar at Gare du Nord 'in bid to flee to UK'
9 February 2024, 15:14 | Updated: 9 February 2024, 15:23
A man has been electrocuted in a 'human fireball' after climbing on top of a Eurostar train at Gare du Nord and being stuck by an overhead cable.
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The man, believed to have been a migrant, was seen running across the tracks of platforms 12 and 13 shortly before 10pm on Thursday.
He then pulled himself up onto the roof of a Eurostar train set for England on track 14 before being electrocuted.
The incident was captured on CCTV from the Ile-de-France networks at the scene, according to Le Parisien.
The victim could be seen standing up before his body caught fire.
Emergency services arrived at the scene at around 10.20pm and firefighters were able to extinguish the flames.
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They tried to save the man but he was declared dead within 15 minutes. He was unable to be identified due to the severity of his burns.
The incident led to disruption on the entire line, with thousands of passengers stranded in France due to delays and cancellations.
It comes after a similar accident occurred in 2017 when another man was electrocuted at Gare du Nord while climbing on the roof of a train. He died from the burns.
In 2015, an Egyptian teenager was thrown from the top of a train due to the force of an electric shock and was left in life-threatening condition.