French crash: Children killed as school bus and train collide
A train and a school bus have collided near Perpignan in southern France, killing at least four children, the interior ministry says.
Another 19 people were reported to be injured, seven of them seriously, in the incident between Millas and Saint-Féliu-d'Amont.
The students on the bus are reported to be between the ages of 11 and 15.
Pictures from the scene showed the school bus sheared in two by the force of the crash.
Emergency services were at the scene and a crisis co-ordination unit was set up.
The crash happened on a section of line between Perpignan and Villefranche-de-Conflent, the local news website l'Indépendant reports.
A witness who was on the train, named as Barbara, said "it was a very violent crash – it seemed as if the train would derail".
Casualties were being taken to hospital in Perpignan. Rail travel is severely disrupted.
Transport Minister Elisabeth Borne called the crash a "terrible accident" and said on Twitter that she was going to the scene, about 850km (530 miles) south of Paris. Prime Minister Edouard Philippe was also heading there.
In a tweet, French President Emmanuel Macron said: "All my thoughts for the victims of this terrible accident involving a school bus, as well as their families. The state is fully mobilised to help them."
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