Six children killed in horror bus crash in France

A school bus carrying 18 teenagers collided with a truck at 07:15 local time (0615 GMT), news channel iTele said.

French Police say a “gate-like” door on the back of an oncoming truck swung open and sliced through the vehicle at window-height.

About 17 individuals were being carried by the school bus, and three children suffered slight injuries in the accident, a police source said. “This is such a tragedy”, said Jerome Servolle, an UNSA police union official in the town.

The minibus’ ill-fated trip on Thursday started from Ile d’Oleron, an island off France’s Atlantic coast.

The accident comes a day after two pupils were killed when a bus careered off the road in Montflovin in the east of the country.

France’s transportation minister and other top government officials were headed to the scene of the crash Thursday in the Charente-Maritime region.

Rochefort Mayor Herve Blanche has confirmed the casualties of the fatal accident, calling the incident “horrific” and pledging that a full-scale investigation would be initiated.