Two people were killed and 16 injured when a bus carrying schoolchildren and other passengers crashed in eastern France on Friday morning.
The bus was travelling from Lyon to Bourg-en-Bresse when it left the D22 road at the entrance to Lent, a small town in the Ain department, at around 7.30am local time. It struck a tree in a roadside ditch, tearing off one side of the vehicle.
The two people killed were a seven-year-old girl and an 18-year-old man, according to the transport minister and local officials. Three of the injured were in a critical condition. The bus was carrying 43 passengers, including 15 children.
Early official accounts differed on the victims’ ages: Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu wrote on X that two children had died, while the transport minister and the Bourg-en-Bresse prosecutor’s office identified the victims as a seven-year-old girl and an 18-year-old man.
Yves Cristin, the mayor of Lent, said he arrived minutes after the crash. “The side of the bus was torn off, and clearly, the people who were on that side must have been seriously injured,” he told BFM TV. The town opened its community hall to shelter and care for the victims.
Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot visited the scene and described the crash as a “tragic accident”, offering condolences to the victims’ families. President Emmanuel Macron also expressed his thoughts to the victims, the injured and their families.
Prosecutors in Bourg-en-Bresse have opened an investigation into possible road homicide and aggravated road injuries. Preliminary blood tests on the driver found no traces of alcohol or drugs, according to the Ain prefect, and the driver had not yet been questioned by police. The cause of the crash has not been determined.
Sources: Reuters, “At least two children killed in bus crash in eastern France, authorities say”, https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/international/4002677-at-least-two-children-killed-in-bus-crash-in-eastern-france-authorities-say?amp ; PA Media via Glasgow Times, “Two killed after bus carrying schoolchildren crashes in France”, https://www.glasgowtimes.co.uk/news/national/26706179.two-killed-bus-carrying-schoolchildren-crashes-france/
