Two dead as Lyon bus leaves road and hits tree in Lent

Two people died when a bus left the road and hit a tree in Lent, eastern France, on Friday morning, local authorities said. The bus was travelling from Lyon to Bourg-en-Bresse.

The crash killed a child and a young adult. The cause is not yet known. The Bourg-en-Bresse prosecutor’s office has opened a road homicide inquiry.

The injury toll remains provisional. elDiario.es reported 16 people hurt, three of them seriously. Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot gave a different count: three with severe injuries and about twenty with less severe injuries, 20minutos reported.

The bus was carrying 43 people, including 15 children, the prosecutor’s office said, as reported by BBC News. Education Minister Édouard Geffray said pupils and teachers were on their way to class.

Lent mayor Yves Cristin said the bus went off the D22 road and struck a tree in a ditch. He put the time at about 7am; ABC reported about 7.30am.

The driver was freed from the bus and taken to hospital. Tabarot said the first tests for drink and drugs were negative. The driver had not yet been questioned, 20minutos reported.

Tabarot said it would take time to speak to the driver and witnesses. He apologised to the families of those killed and to the injured and their parents. He pledged to keep working to make bus and coach travel safer.

The Transport Ministry said 102 firefighters, 58 vehicles and 50 gendarmes had been sent to help, elDiario.es reported. Four helicopters and eight medical teams were also deployed.