France: Train kills three migrants lying on tracks

Three migrants have been killed and one seriously injured after a train struck them in south-western France.

A local mayor and police said the migrants were lying on the tracks when they were hit in a coastal town near Biarritz on Tuesday morning.

A police investigation is under way but the circumstances of the incident remain unclear.

The mayor of Ciboure said the area was well-known as a transit route for migrants.

Mayor Eneko Aldana-Douat told BFM TV the migrants "were sleeping or lying" on the tracks.

Police are trying to identify the migrants. Citing a police source, the Parisian newspaper said all of them were Algerian nationals.

The one who survived suffered a broken leg and has been taken to hospital, local prosecutors told the AFP news agency.

French media said the incident took place shortly before 06:00 local time (04:00 GMT) about 500m (1,640ft) from the train station in Saint-Jean-de-Luz, a seaside town in France's Basque country near the Spanish border.

The train had left Hendaye and was heading for Bordeaux.

Train services were interrupted but gradually resumed after a few hours.