Ordered to bury colleague remains

A TRAIN driver who claims he was ordered by his managers to bury the remains of a dead colleague is suing the SNCF for damages.

The 44-year-old man, identified only by his first name Pascal, says the incident in 1997 left him depressed and suicidal.

When a colleague died after being struck by a TGV near Angers, Pascal was one of a group of workers asked to return to the scene of the accident to find a medal and other personal belongings among the remains.

"I refused - I couldn't do it," he told France Info. "We should have called in the undertakers. My colleagues did it."

He claims that his boss later handed him a bin bag of remains and told him to bury it in wasteland.

He followed the orders and discussed the incident with his superiors and a doctor within the SNCF, who he says encouraged him to keep quiet.

Pascal's lawyer, Maître Boulay, said the case at a Paris employment tribunal would look at whether the rail operator failed in its duty of care to staff.

The dead man's family, who learned of the burial in 2008, have not ruled out taking their own legal action against the SNCF.