Train Plows Into Suspected Migrants, Kills 3, in France

FILE: Policemen stand guard in Paris, Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2018. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
FILE: Policemen stand guard in Paris, Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2018. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
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Train Plows Into Suspected Migrants, Kills 3, in France

FILE: Policemen stand guard in Paris, Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2018. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
FILE: Policemen stand guard in Paris, Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2018. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

A train hit and killed three people and seriously injured another person in southwestern France on Tuesday morning.

A local mayor said the victims were thought to be migrants who were resting on the tracks, The Associated Press reported.

The train was on a line that links the seaside resort town of Hendaye, on France’s border with Spain, and the city of Bordeaux, the national railway company SNCF said.

The collision occurred at around 5:30 a.m., striking four people who were on the tracks, it said.

The victims were thought to be migrants “who were sleeping or were lying ... on the railway line,” said Eneko Aldana-Douat, mayor of Ciboure, near the crash site.

He said it’s not unusual to see migrants in that region near the border.



Vatican Cancels Pope’s Weekend Engagements as He Battles ‘Complex’ Infection 

Pedestrians walk past the statue of Pope John Paul II outside the Gemelli hospital where Pope Francis is hospitalized for tests and treatment for an infection in Rome, on February 18, 2025. (AFP)
Pedestrians walk past the statue of Pope John Paul II outside the Gemelli hospital where Pope Francis is hospitalized for tests and treatment for an infection in Rome, on February 18, 2025. (AFP)
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Vatican Cancels Pope’s Weekend Engagements as He Battles ‘Complex’ Infection 

Pedestrians walk past the statue of Pope John Paul II outside the Gemelli hospital where Pope Francis is hospitalized for tests and treatment for an infection in Rome, on February 18, 2025. (AFP)
Pedestrians walk past the statue of Pope John Paul II outside the Gemelli hospital where Pope Francis is hospitalized for tests and treatment for an infection in Rome, on February 18, 2025. (AFP)

Pope Francis, who began his fifth day in hospital on Tuesday for what doctors have described as a "complex" respiratory infection, will not take part in this weekend's Holy Year events, the Vatican said on Tuesday.

The 88-year-old pontiff has been suffering from a respiratory infection for more than a week and was admitted to Rome's Gemelli hospital on Friday.

A planned public papal audience set for Saturday had been cancelled "due to the health condition of the Holy Father", the Vatican said in a brief statement.

A papal mass scheduled for Sunday will still take place, but will be led instead by a senior Vatican official, it added.

The Vatican said on Monday that doctors had changed the pope's drug therapy for the second time during his hospital stay to tackle a "complex clinical situation". They described it as a "polymicrobial infection of the respiratory tract".

Doctors say polymicrobial diseases can be caused by a mix of viruses, bacteria and fungi.

Francis, who has been pontiff since 2013, has had influenza and other health problems several times over the past two years. As a young adult he developed pleurisy and had part of one lung removed, and in recent times has been prone to lung infections.