Two people, including a child, have died and 16 others were injured after an intercity bus carrying schoolchildren crashed in eastern France on Friday morning, authorities confirmed.
The accident occurred near the town of Lent in the Ain region, north-east of Lyon, when the bus veered off the road and landed in a ditch.
According to French authorities, those killed were a minor and a young adult and three of the 16 injured were in serious condition.
“An accident involving an intercity bus occurred near Lent, France, with multiple casualties reported,” the regional prefecture said in a statement.
Emergency services and police were deployed to the crash site.
French broadcaster BFM TV reported that several passengers were children travelling to local secondary schools.
Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot described the incident as “a serious bus accident” and said he was travelling to the scene.
Education Minister Édouard Geffray expressed condolences to the families of those 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.
Authorities have not yet confirmed what caused the crash or released the identities of the victims.
