‘Drunken’ Briton’s foot sliced off by train at French station

A BRITISH man survived being run over by a train and having his foot sliced off after he fell asleep on the track at a railway station in western France, according to local reports.

The 53-year-old from Jersey, in the Channel Islands, was reportedly inebriated and chose to lie down on the line at the station in Rennes, Brittany, at about 3am yesterday, shortly before a freight train entered the station. The driver spotted the man and jammed on the brakes but was unable to stop the engine in time, according to France Bleu, the radio station.

The man lost a foot and suffered serious injuries to his head and abdomen. Ambulance workers arrived quickly and he was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment.

SNCF, the railway operator, said it was not immediately clear how the man, who has not been named, was able to evade security measures and enter a restricted area of the station, which was closed to the public at the time and patrolled by guards.

It was not clear whether the man was a resident of Rennes or whether he was visiting the city.

There have been several reports in recent years of fatal accidents involving Britons in France in which alcohol was believed to be a factor. In January 2015, an apprentice plumber was found dead in Val D’isère, in southern France, after vanishing while on a pub crawl in sub-zero temperatures.

A inquest heard how the 18-year-old from Newport, Isle of Wight, became disoriented following a night out in the Alpine ski resort.

Police and mountain rescuers launched a huge search operation before a helicopter crew found his body in an isolated spot.