French high-speed train collides with military truck, killing train driver

PARIS - A French high-speed train collided on Tuesday morning with a truck carrying military equipment at a level crossing near Calais, killing the train driver, the local prefecture and railway operators said in separate statements.

Additionally, 16 people were injured and two were in critical condition, the prefecture said. More than 200 passengers were on the train at the time of the crash, it added.

At around 7 a.m. (0500 GMT) near the town of Bully-les-Mines, a high-speed train travelling from Dunkirk to Paris collided with the truck, which was carrying military equipment, railway operator SNCF said in a separate statement.

SNCF said traffic had been interrupted and disruption was expected at least until the end of the day.

-Reporting by Inti Landauro and Sophie Louet; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta and Tomasz Janowski/Reuters