French death toll rises to 5 children in train-bus crash

PARIS (AP) — French authorities said one more student died today 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 news conference an 11-year-old child died this afternoon. Four children aged 12 or 13 died Thursday after the accident.

Tarabeux added three children were released from hospital, but that six others remained hospitalized with injuries that are still life-threatening.

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 today 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."