Tribble Agency
Tribble Agency


At least 42 dead in France road crash

The two drivers were killed, while the rest of the victims were passengers on the coach, officials said.

"It seems that it was the truck [driver] who lost control of his vehicle and traversed the road", he said. The bus driver tried to avoid the lorry but was in collision with it, he added. "It is still not clear how the bus burst into flames so quickly", Rety told reporters at the scene.

Local people reported seeing a plume of smoke from several kilometres away.

Witnesses said the vehicles collided on a risky bend - and described the aftermath as "like a war zone".

"I am astonished at the force of the crash".

Police said the bodies were badly burnt and the process of identifying victims would be long and complicated.

The lorry driver was originally included in the death toll, but unconfirmed reports say he may have managed to escape. According to official statistics, more than 16,000 people were dying every year in the early 1970s.

French broadcasters reported that the bus driver was one of the survivors.

Authorities said it could take up to 3 days to remove the dead from the bus.

In August 1982, 53 people including 44 children were killed in a motorway pile-up in the Cote D'Or region of eastern France.

France's president promised a full investigation into what he called an "immense tragedy".

Francois Decauze, a local artist who had helped organise the trip, said his wife had been due to go, but "pulled out at the last minute". Scores of emergency workers rushed to the scene.

The wreckage of the vehicles will also be examined to try to establish the circumstances of the crash.

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls, along with Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve and the Tranport Minister have arrived at the scene in the past hour.

He added: "It's a awful shock for the area, for (the region) Aquitaine, for France". "It's a catastrophe", he said. Europe 1 radio said they were pensioners who were setting off on an outing.

The interior ministry said the bus was carrying elderly from a nearby village going on excursion.

Gilles Savary, lawmaker from the region, said on BFM television that a bus company from the town of Libourne was leading the group on a tourist trip.

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