One child and one young adult have died after a bus crashed in eastern France, local authorities said. The crash happened at about 07:00 local time on Friday in the town of Lent, roughly 55km from the Swiss border. The bus was travelling between Lyon and Bourg-en-Bresse at the time.
Lent’s mayor, Yves Cristin, told French media that the vehicle “left the road and hit a tree in the ditch.” Photos circulating in French media show a blue and white bus tilted on a roadside embankment, with its front badly damaged.
Passenger count and injuries from the Lent crash
The Bourg-en-Bresse prosecutor’s office said 43 people were on board, including 15 children. Its account of the casualties was as follows:
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- Three people in critical condition
- Thirteen people with minor injuries
- One child and one young adult dead
The driver was taken to hospital with injuries. Police had not yet questioned him, the prosecutor’s office added.
Rescue teams and officials respond in Lent
Cristin told BFM TV he reached the scene minutes after the accident and found people in shock. He said the side of the bus had been torn off, and that those seated there were likely badly hurt.
French education minister Édouard Geffray said the crash involved students. He told reporters it was “always difficult when our children are victims of accidents of this nature.”
Medical helicopters were used to move seriously injured victims to a specialised hospital. Transport minister Philippe Tabarot, who was travelling to the area, said more than 100 firefighters had also been dispatched. The mayor said the local town hall had been opened to shelter people and coordinate the emergency response.
