Paris - Five schoolchildren were killed and four seriously injured Monday when a regional train slammed into their schoolbus in the southeastern French region of Upper Savoy, police said.

The bus was transporting some 50 students on an excursion to the city of Yvoire when the accident occurred.

Authorities said that a number of train passengers were slightly injured in the crash, which occured on the line from Annemasse to Thonon-les-Bains.

Interior Minister Michele Alliot-Marie and the head of the national SNCF rail network, Guillaume Pepy, were to travel to the scene of the accident. (dpa)