Crane Falls On High School, Kills 6

A construction crane toppled onto a high school during classes Thursday, killing six students and injuring four other people.

Col. Bernard Modere, head of the rescue team, said the dead students were 17 or 18 years old. Three of the injured were students and the fourth the crane operator, who was seriously injured, Modere said.

The accident, apparently caused by high winds, occurred about 4 p.m. at the Jean-Baptiste Vatelot school, a private high school near the central market in Toul. The town of 17,000 is about 175 miles east of Paris.

The 100-foot crane fell onto the four-story building and collapsed its roof into the third floor. He did not exclude the possibility that other victims could be trapped.