Deadly Bus Crash in Eastern France

A bus carrying 43 passengers, including 15 children, crashed in Lent in eastern France at about 07:00 local time on Friday while travelling between Lyon and Bourg-en-Bresse. Local authorities said a young girl and an 18-year-old man died. Reports differed over the girl’s age. Three people were critically injured and another 13 sustained minor injuries. The driver was also injured and taken to hospital; police had not yet questioned him. Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot said preliminary tests found no traces of alcohol or drugs in the driver’s blood. Lent mayor Yves Cristin said the bus left the road and struck a tree in a ditch. He described arriving shortly after the crash and finding passengers in shock, and said the side of the bus had been torn off. The crash scene photographs showed a blue-and-white bus tilted in a roadside ditch, with severe damage to its front. Cristin said there had been some fog and the road was wet, but no major difficulties. Regional head Fabrice Pannekoucke said there were not yet any particular explanations for the crash. The Bourg-en-Bresse prosecutor’s office opened an investigation into suspected road homicide and aggravated road-traffic injuries. Emergency services responded, with medical helicopters taking seriously injured people to a specialist hospital. More than 100 firefighters and 50 gendarmes attended, and the town hall was opened as a shelter and coordination point. Officials noted that the bus was not exclusively used for school routes, although many schoolchildren were aboard. Education Minister Édouard Geffray expressed sorrow that children had been involved in an accident of this nature.

A bus carrying schoolchildren crashed in eastern France on Friday morning, killing two passengers—a child and a young adult—and injuring 16 others. Three of the injured were reported to be in serious condition. The crash occurred near Lent, in the department of Ain, while the bus was travelling from Lyon to Bourg-en-Bresse with 43 passengers, including 15 minors. Lent Mayor Yves Cristin said the bus left the road at about 7 a.m. local time, crossed the roadway and struck a tree in a ditch. He noted that the road was slightly damp but said there were no major difficulties at the crash site and that authorities did not yet understand why the bus had left its lane. The impact tore off part of the side of the vehicle, and Cristin said passengers on that side appeared to have been particularly badly hurt. Around 100 firefighters and 50 police officers responded, and the road near the scene was closed. A local community hall was opened to shelter people affected by the crash. Education Minister Edouard Geffray expressed sympathy for the families and the wider education community, describing the accident as a difficult moment for those affected. Prosecutors opened an investigation into homicide by vehicle. The driver was hospitalized after the crash and had not yet been questioned, according to the report. The cause of the accident remained unclear.

An intercity bus carrying passengers that included children traveling to school crashed Friday morning near Lent, a small town in the Ain region of eastern France, northeast of Lyon. French authorities reported that the crash killed two people: one minor and one young adult. Sixteen others were injured, three of them seriously. The regional prefecture said emergency services and law enforcement officers were sent to the scene. Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot said on X that he was traveling there after what he described as a serious bus accident. Broadcaster BFM TV reported that some passengers were children on their way to middle and high schools in the area. A photograph from the scene showed the bus had left the road and come to rest in a ditch. Education Minister Édouard Geffray expressed sympathy for the students and families affected, saying the government and education community were thinking of them. The article provides no further details about the cause of the crash or the identities of those killed and injured.