At least 44 people have been injured, one of them seriously, after a passenger train derailed in northern France on Friday evening.

The incident happened shortly before 20:00 local time (18:00 GMT) near the commune of Cléon, located just south of Rouen in Normandy. An 18-year-old woman sustained critical injuries in the crash and had to be airlifted directly to hospital by helicopter.

If you are looking at travel in the region, the service involved was running on the route between Rouen and Caen. According to France's Transport Minister, Philippe Tabarot, there were 180 passengers on board the service when it came off the tracks.

Following the derailment, local authorities immediately activated a mass-casualty response plan to deal with the scale of the incident. A large-scale rescue operation was rapidly mobilised to reach those caught up in the wreckage.

Minister Tabarot confirmed that 140 firefighters alongside additional emergency response teams were deployed to the scene near Cléon. French police moved quickly to seal off the entire crash area while emergency crews carried out triage and rescue work.

In the aftermath of the crash, photographs emerged showing passengers making their way off the stricken train. Reports from French media indicated that three carriages had overturned during the incident.

State-owned railway operator SNCF has confirmed that the crash has caused what it described as "significant disruptions" across its local rail network. To help stranded travellers get to where they need to be, the operator stated that replacement bus services would be put in place.

Local authorities have also issued clear guidance advising members of the public to avoid the crash site entirely while the emergency services and recovery teams continue their work.

What we do not know yet is precisely why this happened. Officials have stated that the cause of the derailment was not immediately known, and formal inquiries will need to establish what led the train to leave the rails.

For now, the focus remains on the medical care of the injured passengers, particularly the young woman who remains in a critical condition in hospital, and on clearing the affected line.

I'll be following this one closely as investigators begin looking into the cause of the crash — check back for updates as soon as more confirmed details come through.