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Thrill seeker dies ‘train surfing’ on Paris Metro

The dangerous craze of ‘train surfing', which has long been popular in Russia, came to France this week and ended in tragic circumstances. A young man who was reportedly riding the roof of a Paris Metro was killed when the train entered a tunnel.

Thrill seeker dies 'train surfing' on Paris Metro
File photo: Thomas Ulrich

A young man in his twenties was killed on Thursday night when apparently attempting to 'surf' on the roof of a Paris Metro train.

According to the police investigation the victim and his friend, both aged in their 20s, boarded a train on Line 6 of the Paris Metro at Denfert Rochereau at around 10pm.

During the journey one of the two men clambered up onto the roof of the front carriage, but as he lifted himself up he was struck full force in the head as the train entered a tunnel before Montparnasse station.

A police source told AFP that the victim died almost instantly, while his friend was later admitted to hospital suffering from shock.

A witness, a young Scottish woman, sitting in the first carriage, told AFP that she heard a distinct "thud" at the entrance to the station and then saw the body of a young man fall into the space between the first and second cars.

"Everyone started screaming", said the witness, who wanted to remain anonymous. 

She then tried to help revive the victim on the platform at Montparnasse.

"I am trained in first aid so I conducted CPR until firefighters arrived. But the young man had fractured his skull," she told AFP.

The whole of Line 6 was temporarily closed while police investigated.

During their investigation police found a camera leading them to believe that the two men wanted to film their stunt and post it on an online video-sharing site like YouTube, French daily Liberation reported.

Train surfing has proved a popular ‘sport’ in Russia despite reports of hundreds of fatalities. In 2011, in a similar incident to what happened in Paris, two students' lives ended in a gruesome death when surfing the Moscow Metro.

The thrill seekers often post videos of their exploits on the internet.

A police source told AFP the phenomenon has not yet taken of off in France but, worryingly, it is becoming more common.

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