In a fight on a French train with an ax and samurai sword, four students are injured, including one victim whose hand is severed

Four teenagers were injured by an ax, two of them seriously, in a brawl on a suburban train outside Paris on Monday, police sources said. The main suspect was later arrested.

One of the victims – all aged 16 or 17 – had his hand severed and another had his skull split open.

Two other people suffered minor injuries in the fight, which police said broke out around 8 a.m. while the teenagers involved were on their way to high school.

It was not immediately clear what sparked the fight, which involved weapons including an axe, a knife, a samurai sword and baseball bats.

All of the injured have been taken to hospital and no one’s life is in danger, the source added.

The main suspect, a 16-year-old, was later arrested at his home and held in custody, another police source said.

During the search, an ax was found and seized, they added.

The incident occurred while the RER rapid transit train was traveling at Ozoir-la-Ferrière station, southeast of Paris.

A message posted on the RER E’s official X account said: “An incident on the TUVA train currently at Ozoir station requires the train to remain at the platform. We are waiting for the police to intervene.”

A later post said traffic had slowed in both directions due to a “dispute on board a train at Ozoir station.”

The RER E line runs east-west through Paris and its suburbs.