Bus crash in eastern France kills two and injures 16
An intercity bus carrying children and teenagers to school crashed on Friday morning in eastern France, killing one minor and one young adult, French authorities said. The crash occurred near the small town of Lent, in a rural area north-east of Lyon.
The bus was travelling between Lyon and Bourg-en-Bresse and was carrying 43 passengers in total, including 15 minors, according to prosecutors. The local prefecture said the collision involved an intercity bus. The mayor of Lent, Yves Cristin, confirmed that it was a school bus and said 70 people were affected by the crash. The town opened its community hall to provide care and shelter to the crash victims.
French gendarmes, firefighters and emergency responders operated at the scene. Emergency services and law enforcement officers were deployed, the prefecture said in a statement. A photo from the scene showed the bus had veered off the road and landed in a ditch.
Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot said on X that he was heading to the site following “a serious bus accident” near Lent. Education Minister Édouard Geffray said the crash involved a bus believed to be transporting school pupils. He told reporters on the sidelines of a visit to a high school in the Paris region: “It is always a difficult moment when our students, our children, are victims of an accident like this. My thoughts, and those of the government and the entire education community, are with the families.”
News broadcaster BFM TV reported that the passengers included children travelling to middle and high schools in the area.
