Dominican bus crash kills 3 French tourists

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic – A bus packed with French tourists collided Thursday with a train in the eastern Dominican Republic, killing at least three people, a civil defense official said.

At least 10 passengers on the bus were injured when the bus hit the train and were taken to nearby hospitals, said Amado Avila, director of the civil defense agency for La Altagracia Province. The two men and a woman who were killed were French citizens but their names were not yet available, he said.

Nearly 30 French tourists were on board the bus along with two Dominicans. It was coming from the airport when it struck a train operated by a sugar company near the town of San Rafael del Yuma, about 160 kilometers (100 miles) east of Santo Domingo.

The tourists were apparently heading for the Punta Cana tourist complex. The cause of the crash was under investigation.