Train halted as man's arm trapped in toilet

A high-speed rail route in France was halted after a passenger's arm was trapped down a toilet, it was reported today.

France Info radio said the passenger had dropped his mobile phone down the pan and had been trying to retrieve it.

But the TGV train's toilets operate with a powerful suction mechanism, and his arm was trapped.

Firefighters reportedly had to remove him with the loo still attached to his arm before they could cut it free.

The BBC website said that the train had been travelling in western France from La Rochelle to Bordeaux and that the service had been halted for two hours for the rescue.

The passenger was said to have escaped with only a painful elbow.