A train has struck a school bus in the French Alps close to the border with Switzerland killing five children, French police say.
The accident occurred near the town of Allinges in France's Haute-Savoie department, they said.
At least 30 people were also injured in the crash which happened at around 1400 local time (1200 GMT), according to France's national rail operator SNCF. Fashion king Saint Laurent dies ...
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French President Nicolas Sarkozy has sent condolences to the victims.
"All of us are thinking of the children, the adults, the victims," he said. "We can only hope there will be as few victims as possible."
Ministers in attendance
The train was travelling between the towns of Evian and Thonon-les-Bains when it struck the bus.
The bus had been carrying 50 children and six adults from the town of Margencel to Yvoire.
"Five children were killed, four bus passengers were seriously wounded - we don't know if they are children or adults - and 27 children were slightly hurt," an official told Agence France-Presse news agency.
An SNCF official said some of the train passengers were also slightly hurt.
Interior Minister Michele Alliot-Marie and the Secretary of State for Transport Dominique Bussereau were attending the scene of the accident.
(BBC)
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