French authorities said one more student died Friday after a regional train sliced open a school bus in southern France, raising the overall death toll to five children.
Marseille prosecutor Xavier Tarabeux, who is coordinating the investigation with local authorities in the Pyrenees-Orientales region, told a press conference that an 11-year-old child died on Friday afternoon. Four children aged 12 or 13 died Thursday after the accident.
Tarabeux added that three children were released from hospital, but that six others remained hospitalized with injuries that are still life-threatening.
In this photo provided by France Bleu, rescue workers help after a school bus and a regional train collided in the village of Millas, southern France, Thursday, Dec. 14, 2017. A school bus and a regional train collided in southern France on Thursday, killing four children and critically injuring several other people on the bus, the French interior ministry said. (Matthieu Ferri/France Bleu via AP)
The bus driver, a 46-year-old woman, was also injured in the accident at a crossing close to the Spanish border and has yet to be questioned by investigators.
The bus was carrying 23 students aged 11 to 15 from the Christian Bourquin school in the village of Millas, near Perpignan in southern France. The school opened its doors Friday to offer counseling for grieving students and families.
Investigators were still working to determine the cause of the crash.
Philippe Vignes, the Pyrenees-Orientales chief, said he could not say whether the railway barriers meant to stop vehicles from driving onto the tracks when a train is coming were open or closed.
"There are contradictory rumors," he said. "We need to be very careful."
Tarabeux said "the testimonies on the functioning of the barriers are not consistent, but in favor of closed barriers."
Christian Faur, the head of the bus company, earlier told French media that he spoke with the bus driver at the hospital and that she was adamant the barriers were opened.
In this photo provided by France Bleu, rescue workers help after a school bus and a regional train collided in the village of Millas, southern France, Thursday, Dec. 14, 2017. A school bus and a regional train collided in southern France on Thursday, killing four children and critically injuring several other people on the bus, the French interior ministry said. (France Bleu via AP)
National railway company SNCF said in a statement it was "shocked" by Faur's allegations.
According to Tarabeux, alcohol and drugs tests performed on the two conductors who were in the locomotive were negative. The bus driver was tested for alcohol and returned a negative result too.
SNCF said the train was carrying 25 people, including passengers and crew, and all were accounted for and being offered counseling. She said the train normally travels at 80 kph (50 mph) at that location.
Tarabeux said it was traveling at 75 kph, under the authorized limit of 100 kph.
French President Emmanuel Macron evoked the nation's "sadness" and "solidarity" toward the victims' families at a news conference Friday at a European Union summit in Brussels.
Vignes added that investigators would also look into reports that the batteries in the automatic train gate system had been stolen.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — At least 55 people were hurt, two seriously, when a Metro light rail train and a University of Southern California shuttle bus collided Tuesday along a busy thoroughfare in downtown Los Angeles, officials said.
The crash happened shortly before noon along Exposition Boulevard, near the USC campus and Natural History Museum, according to the LA Fire Department.
Two victims were hospitalized with serious injuries and 16 others were transported in fair condition, the department said. Another 37 people were treated at the scene.
Dave Sotero, a spokesperson for LA Metro, said the bus crossed into the path of an E Line train. The light rail line runs from East Los Angeles to downtown Santa Monica mostly along streets, and not all of the crossings have gates.
Genesis Hernandez was transferring from a Metro bus to catch the E Line to Santa Monica, where she attends college when “all of a sudden I just saw a bunch of ambulances going by,” she recalled.
The 19-year-old was able to view the crash scene from a platform at the Expo/Vermont Metro station. “The bus definitely got crunched on its front end,” she said. “The train didn't look too damaged.”
Television news footage showed the left side of the red and white bus smashed against the first car of the train. The front section of the bus had significant damage.
The Starcraft 40-passenger bus was traveling westbound on Exposition Boulevard with only the driver and one passenger aboard when the collision occurred, according to a statement from USC Transportation. The bus driver and passenger were the two most severely injured, according to fire department officials.
There were more than 150 passengers on the Santa Monica-bound Metro train, officials said.
Sotero said the Los Angeles Police Department would be in charge of the investigation.
“Metro offers its sympathy to those injured in the accident,” Sotero said in an email.
Exposition Boulevard was closed in both directions during the initial investigation. Metro said its train service would be limited and buses would be used to get passengers through the crash area.
__ Associated Press writer Christopher Weber in Los Angeles contributed to this report.
A Metro light rail train resumes service in Los Angeles, Tuesday, April 30, 2024. Officials say multiple people were hurt, and a few seriously, when a Metro light rail train and a University of Southern California shuttle bus collided in downtown Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
A Metro light rail train returns to service in Los Angeles, Tuesday, April 30, 2024. Officials say multiple people were hurt, and a few seriously, when a Metro light rail train and a University of Southern California shuttle bus collided in downtown Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
In this aerial still image provided by KABC-TV, firefighters respond to the scene of an accident where a shuttle bus collided with a Metro light rail train on Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in Los Angeles. (KABC via AP)
In this aerial still image provided by KABC-TV, firefighters respond to the scene of an accident where a shuttle bus collided with a Metro light rail train on Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in Los Angeles. (KABC via AP)
In this aerial still image provided by KABC-TV, firefighters respond to the scene of an accident where a shuttle bus collided with a Metro light rail train on Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in Los Angeles. (KABC via AP)
In this aerial still image provided by KABC-TV, firefighters respond to the scene of an accident where a shuttle bus collided with a Metro light rail train on Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in Los Angeles. (KABC via AP)
A Metro light rail train service after a crash in Los Angeles, Tuesday, April 30, 2024. Officials say multiple people were hurt, and a few seriously, when a Metro light rail train and a University of Southern California shuttle bus collided in downtown Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
A Metro light rail train returns to service in Los Angeles, Tuesday, April 30, 2024. The LA Fire Department says a crash happened shortly before noon Tuesday along Exposition Boulevard, near the USC campus and the Natural History Museum. Officials say multiple people were hurt when a train and a University of Southern California shuttle bus collided. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
