Briton dies after stabbing at French train station

A Briton murdered at a French railway station died from a single stab wound to the heart, police said yesterday.

Aaron Powell, 56, who was found murdered at Orleans railway station at 8.45pm on Wednesday, was a mechanic from Cardiff.

A police spokesman said Mr Powell had been travelling with a 29-year-old female family friend. Both were due to catch a free bus from the station to the city's second central railway station to take a train to Barcelona. He said that Mr Powell had left the woman to look after their bags while he went in search of food.

"His body was found in a corridor which links the train station to the commercial centre," the spokesman said. "He was found with his passport and money still on him and it is believed his death is the result of an argument with a stranger. There are a large number of youths who hang around the station at night and we are looking on this as a local incident."

He added that the woman who had been travelling with Mr Powell was being treated for shock by a family liaison officer. Police are looking at CCTV footage from the station.