11 hurt as French trains collide

Two passenger trains collided in south-western France after one of the trains derailed when it hit a crane that had fallen on to the tracks from a nearby construction site, police said.

Eleven people were injured when the trains crossed paths outside Perigueux, in the Dordogne region yesterday. Nine of the injured were being treated at a nearby hospital, police said.

An investigation was opened to determine how the crane made its way on to the rails.

The fallen object caused an eastbound train travelling from Bordeaux to Lyon to jump the tracks as a train heading south from Limoges to Perigueux was passing by.