PARIS — A bus carrying school children in eastern France crashed on Friday morning, French media reported.
At least two people were killed, a child and a young adult, and 16 others were injured in the incident.
The incident happened at around 07:00 local time (0600 GMT) on Friday in the town of Lent, northeast of Lyon, around 55 km from the border with Switzerland, French broadcaster BFMTV reported.
Lent Mayor Yves Cristin said the bus went off the road and crashed into a tree in a ditch.
He added that 70 people were involved in the incident and the local community hall had been opened up to shelter the victims of the crash.
“This is an absolute tragedy that has struck our community,” Cristin told BFMTV. “The accident occurred in a location on the road where there are no major difficulties.”
“The road was slightly damp, and we don’t understand why the bus left its lane, crossed the road, and ended up in the opposite ditch,” he added. “Unfortunately, there was a tree in its path, and it was this tree that made the accident so tragic.”
Earlier, French education minister Édouard Geffray said the crash involved students, while transport minister Philippe Tabarot said he was on his way to the scene.
Geffray told reporters his thoughts were with “students involved in the accident” and that it was “always difficult when our children are victims of accidents of this nature”.
Photos circulating in French media show a blue and white bus tilted in what appears to be a ditch on the roadside. Trees line the side of the road. The front of the bus appears to be heavily damaged.
Emergency services are at the scene and a helicopter has been deployed to take victims with serious injuries to a specialised hospital.
Source: Saudi Gazette