Three migrants have died in southwest France after being hit by a train while they were lying on the tracks, a police spokeswoman said on Tuesday.

She said four migrants had been on the train tracks near Saint-Jean-de-Luz at around 5 am CET when they were hit by a train traveling to Bordeaux.

Three died instantly, while another is seriously hurt, she said.

She added that it was not clear why they were lying on the tracks.

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Two of the migrants had Algerian nationality, the others’ nationalities are not known.

Eneko Aldana-Douat, mayor of Ciboure, near the crash site said on BFM TV that the area near the Spanish border is a passageway for immigrants.