Police: At least 40 dead after bus and truck collide in southwest France

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At least 40 dead in southwest France bus-truck collision

PARIS (AP) — At least 40 people, mostly elderly tourists starting off on a day trip, were killed Friday when a bus and truck collided on a country road in wine country in southwest France, officials said.

The cause and circumstances of the crash — near the village of Puisseguin, about 50 kilometers east of Bordeaux — were unclear. Scores of emergency workers rushed to the scene.

The death toll may have been so unusually high because the bus caught fire, an official with the national gendarme service said. The official was not authorized to be publicly named.

French President Francois Hollande, on a visit to Greece, said the government was "totally mobilized" to help after what he called a "terrible accident."

The bus was carrying mostly elderly people from nearby towns on a one-day tourist trip to another site in southwest France, and had just left when it collided with the truck, legislator Gilles Savary said on BFM television. He called it one of the deadliest accidents in recent years.

French media reports said some people managed to escape, notably by breaking windows.

The weather in the region was overcast Friday morning but not rainy.


-- (c) Associated Press 2015-10-23

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France traffic accident leaves '42 dead'

At least 42 people are feared dead in a traffic accident involving a truck and bus in south-west France, reports say.

The two vehicles are reported to have collided head-on near Libourne, in the Gironde region, east of Bordeaux.

A fire official told the Agence France Presse that the dead were mostly adult passengers on the bus. The lorry driver was also killed.

Full story: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-34613637

-- BBC 2015-10-23

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At least 40 dead in bus crash in southern France
Jessica Elgot

Local reports say most passengers on bus carrying pensioners on trip were killed instantly, after it collided with truck near town of Puisseguin

At least 40 people have been killed in a collision between a bus and a truck travelling through south-west France, police said.

The crash happened around 7.30am local time, close to the town of Puisseguin, about 40 miles east of Bordeaux.

According to local media reports, around 60 firefighters were dispatched to the scene, with most of the passengers on the bus – reported to be pensioners on a coach trip – dying instantly.

An national gendarme official told AP the high death toll came because the bus had burst into flames.

Full story: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/oct/23/at-least-40-dead-after-bus-crash-in-south-of-france-puisseguin

-- theguardian 2015-10-23

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The Latest: French president: 42 dead in bus-truck crash

PARIS (AP) — The latest news about the crash between a bus and a truck in southwest France. All times local:

10 a.m.

French President Francois Hollande says at least 42 people were killed and several others gravely injured when a bus and truck crashed and caught fire in southwest France.

Hollande's office said in a statement Friday that Prime Minister Manuel Valls and Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve are heading to the site of the crash east of Bordeaux.

Calling it an "immense tragedy," Hollande promised an investigation into what happened. He also expressed "the solidarity of the whole nation" with loved ones of the victims.

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9:45 a.m.

A French legislator says that most of the victims in a crash that killed at least 40 were elderly people from southwest France heading on a day trip.

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. The bus collided with a truck near the village of Puisseguin on Friday, and authorities say at least 40 people were killed.

Savary called it one of the worst crashes in recent years in the region.

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9:15 a.m.

French police say that at least 40 people have been killed in a collision between a bus and truck near the southwestern city of Bordeaux.

An official with the national gendarme service said the crash occurred near the town of Puisseguin, and that death toll may have been so unusually high because the bus caught fire.

The official said scores of emergency workers in the region have been mobilized to help. The official was not authorized to be publicly named.

Europe-1 radio reported that the bus was carrying primarily elderly people. It was not immediately clear how many people were on the bus, or their nationalities or other details.


-- (c) Associated Press 2015-10-23