France Bus Crash Near Lent Leaves Two Dead as Prosecutors Say Hospitalised Driver Has Yet To Be Questioned

The passenger coach, which was transporting 43 occupants, including 15 minors, between Lyon and Bourg-en-Bresse, veered off the carriageway and struck a mature tree in a drainage ditch near the town in the department of Ain around 7am local time or 0600 GMT.

Prosecutors in the department of Ain confirmed that the driver remains under medical supervision in hospital and has not yet been questioned by judicial investigators.

Lent Mayor Yves Cristin told BFMTV that the vehicle crossed oncoming lanes on a slightly damp road before impact sheared away the side of the bus, causing catastrophic trauma to passengers seated along that flank.

France Bus Crash Prompts Homicide Inquiry

Seeking the driver's questioning after the crash, prosecutors announced that an investigation into homicide by vehicle had been opened.

Their statement addressed both the passenger numbers and the driver's status following the collision. The account of the bus leaving its lane, crossing the road and entering the opposite ditch came from Cristin.

The mayor described the crash as a tragedy for the community and expressed uncertainty about how it had happened on that stretch of road.

'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.'

France Bus Crash in Damp Road Conditions

Cristin described the road as slightly damp. In his account, the bus crossed the road after leaving its lane and ended up in the ditch on the opposite side.

'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.

The mayor attributed the severity of the crash to the tree in the vehicle's path. His description linked the bus's departure from the road to the impact that followed in the ditch.

'Unfortunately, there was a tree in its path, and it was this tree that made the accident so tragic.'

Cristin added that the side of the bus had been torn off 'and clearly, the people who ​were on that ‌side must have been seriously injured.'

His comments combined a description of the damage with his assessment of the likely injuries to people on the vehicle's side.

France Bus Crash Draws Government Condolences

Education Minister Edouard Geffray expressed sympathy for the families while visiting a high school in the Paris region. He addressed the collision in remarks to reporters, referring to the students and children affected.

'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,' Geffray told reporters.

Geffray's message expressed sympathy on behalf of the government and the education community. It followed a crash involving a bus whose passengers, according to prosecutors, included both minors and adults.

The total number of injuries was 16, but the figures for serious injuries differed. The initial French media account reported three seriously injured, while BFMTV cited two.

Psychological support cells have been established across regional schools to assist surviving classmates and grieving relatives in the aftermath of the crash.