SNCF found guilty for RER deaths
Two young football supporters were hit by a train at 80kph as they tried to find they way back to bus at Stade de France
THE SNCF has been ordered to pay more than a quarter of a million euros after two young football fans were killed by an RER train in Paris in 2009.
Jordan and Sullivan, aged 10 and 18, were among a group of Lille supporters who had travelled to the Stade de France for a match against Lyon.
About a dozen of them became lost as they hurried from the stadium back to their coach on the other side of the Saint-Denis canal to meet the bus's 23.15 deadline.
The group followed a path, through an open gate, and up a flight of stairs to a bridge. Walking in pitch black, they did not realise that they had ended up on a train track.
The two boys were hit by an RER train at 80kph. Three others were seriously injured and now have a life-long disability and the other eight in the group suffered minor injuries.
Prosecutors accused the SNCF of a "serious breach of safety requirements". The SNCF said with such a vast network it was not possible to ensure that every gate and access path on to the tracks was secure at all times.
A court in Bobigny found the SNCF guilty of manslaughter and ordered it to pay a €280,000 fine.
The families' lawyer said: "They will be extremely relieved to hear that the SNCF has been found entirely responsible. They have been waiting for this judgment for a very long time."
