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Bus Crash in Southwestern France Kills 43 Bus Crash in Southwestern France Kills 43
(about 1 hour later)
PARIS — Forty-three people were killed and eight others were injured on Friday morning when a bus and a truck collided on a road in southwestern France. Officials said it was the country’s worst traffic accident in 33 years. PARIS — A truck collided head-on with a bus carrying elderly people on a sightseeing excursion in southwest France on Friday morning, killing 43 people and injuring eight others. Officials said it was the country’s worst traffic disaster in 33 years.
The crash took place around 7:30 a.m. near the village of Puisseguin, close to the city of Libourne and east of Bordeaux. According to the authorities, a truck that was used to transport wood swerved at a curve on a rural road and struck a bus, causing both vehicles to burst into flames. The crash took place around 7:30 a.m. near the town of Puisseguin, close to the city of Libourne and east of Bordeaux. According to the authorities, a truck that was used to transport wood swerved at a curve on a rural road and struck a bus, causing both vehicles to burst into flames.
Xavier Sublett, the mayor of Puisseguin, told reporters that the bus driver had seen the truck approaching but was unable to avoid the collision. The driver managed to open the doors of the bus at the last minute, allowing some of the passengers to flee, Mayor Sublett said, and he survived. Xavier Sublett, the mayor of Puisseguin, said the accident happened in a sharp bend of the road, several hundred feet from the town. “The bus was hit by a truck that was coming the opposite way and that missed a tight turn,” he said in a phone interview, adding that the road was “pretty and very picturesque” but not in poor condition.
The truck driver was killed. In the midafternoon, the authorities announced that the body of a child had been found next to the truck driver, raising the death toll to 43. Of the eight people who were injured, two of the wounded sustained head injuries and two others had burns, while four were lightly wounded. The truck driver was killed. The authorities, who initially reported 42 deaths, announced in the afternoon that they had found the body of a 3-year-old boy — possibly the driver’s son — in the truck’s cab, raising the death toll to 43. Of the eight people who were injured, two of the wounded sustained head injuries and two others had burns, while four were lightly wounded.
Prime Minister Manuel Valls, speaking to reporters in Puisseguin, called the accident “horrifying” and added, “We have not seen such a catastrophe on our roads for over 30 years.” Prime Minister Manuel Valls, speaking to reporters in Puisseguin, called the accident “horrifying” and added, “We have not seen such a catastrophe on our roads for over 30 years.” Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve also headed to the scene, as did Alain Juppé, a former prime minister who is now the mayor of Bordeaux.
Mr. Valls said a police investigation into the causes of the accident would start immediately. The bus was traveling to La Maison du Jambon de Bayonne — a store and museum in Arzacq-Arraziguet devoted to the region’s famous cured hams — from Petit-Palais-et-Cornemps, a town about five miles north of Puisseguin, according to Bertrand Ecomard, the head of the center. The journey would have been 120 miles.
Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve also headed to the scene, as did Alain Juppé, a former prime minister who is now the mayor of Bordeaux. Col. Ghislain Réty of the Gironde gendarmerie told reporters at the scene that 250 officers had been deployed and that it was too early to say what had caused the accident.
According to the prefecture in Bordeaux, the bus was traveling to Arzacq-Arraziguet from Petit-Palais-et-Cornemps, about five miles north of Puisseguin, a total distance of 120 miles. He said the bus driver had acted “heroically” by helping several people get out of the bus.
Aerial footage on French television showed the charred frames of the bus and the truck, with the fronts of both vehicles apparently slammed one against the other, and the truck’s cab turned on its side. “He gave us a few details; he is extremely shocked,” Colonel Réty said of the driver. “So these elements are going to be reconfirmed and corroborated, especially with the technical evidence that will be taken from the scene.”
Fabienne Rogerie, whose father is the president of a seniors club in Petit-Palais-et-Cornemps, told the i-Télé news channel that he had planned what was supposed to be a fun excursion in the Jurançon area. When news of the accident reached her, she said, it quickly became clear that the bus carrying her father was the one involved. He added that one of the biggest questions was why the bus had caught fire so quickly. “For now, I do not have any leads,” he said.
“When you know their destination, and when you know the time, place and circumstances of the accident, you quickly understand,” Ms. Rogerie said. Aerial footage on French television showed the charred frames of the bus and the truck, with the fronts of both vehicles apparently slammed against each other, and the truck’s cab turned to its side.
The prefecture announced on Twitter that the public prosecutor in Libourne would hold a news conference about the accident at 7 p.m. Friday. A car that was behind the bus stopped after the accident, and its driver broke one of the bus’s rear windows to free several passengers, Colonel Réty said.
The causes of the crash were not clear, but Gilles Savary, a Socialist member of the National Assembly for the department of Gironde, said that the local road network was in good shape and was regularly maintained. The bodies of the victims were being brought to a police laboratory in Bordeaux, but a place of grieving was set up near the Puisseguin town hall for families and friends of the victims, Mayor Sublett said.
In a phone interview from Petit-Palais-et-Cornemps, the hometown of most of the victims, Sylvie Milhard, 60, said her uncle Michel Rogerie had died in the crash. Mr. Rogerie, 84, was the town’s former mayor and the current president of its senior citizens’ club.
Ms. Milhard, who manages a chateau in a neighboring town, expressed frustration that residents of Petit-Palais-et-Cornemps had little information until the early afternoon, when the town hall released the list of survivors.
“It was horrible, everybody was crying,” she said. “With my husband, we could have been part of this club, I am 60 and he is 61,” Ms. Milhard said. “Several of the passengers were friends from school, we grew up together.”
She added: “My cousin was in there as well, he was thrown out and survived, but his wife and her two sisters are dead. It’s a whole generation that is gone.”
Pascal Romain, a council member in Petit-Palais-et-Cornemps, said that the passengers on the bus were members of the town’s seniors club. “It is a real tragedy because it is a very small town, and everybody knows one another,” he said.Pascal Romain, a council member in Petit-Palais-et-Cornemps, said that the passengers on the bus were members of the town’s seniors club. “It is a real tragedy because it is a very small town, and everybody knows one another,” he said.
Gilles Clion, 57, the owner of a restaurant in the town, said it was in a state of shock. Gilles Clion, 57, the owner of a restaurant in the town, said the town was in a state of shock.
“Their cars are still parked on the town square, they had all gathered there to take the bus,” he said in a telephone interview. “I recognize some of the license plates, and I know that there will be people I know among the dead. We have no news so far because the list of the passengers was with the president of the club in the bus.” “Their cars are still parked on the town square, they had all gathered there to take the bus,” he said in a telephone interview. “I recognize some of the license plates, and I know that there will be people I know among the dead.”
Mr. Clion said that his mother, sister and brother-in-law had all planned to join the outing but had canceled at the last minute. The club had planned an excursion in the southern region of Béarn that included a ham tasting at lunchtime, Mr. Clion said.Mr. Clion said that his mother, sister and brother-in-law had all planned to join the outing but had canceled at the last minute. The club had planned an excursion in the southern region of Béarn that included a ham tasting at lunchtime, Mr. Clion said.
The Road Safety Association said the disaster was the worst road accident in France since one that killed 53 people, including 44 children, near Beaune, the wine capital of Burgundy, in July 1982.The Road Safety Association said the disaster was the worst road accident in France since one that killed 53 people, including 44 children, near Beaune, the wine capital of Burgundy, in July 1982.
“It is an enormous tragedy,” President François Hollande said in a statement. On Twitter, he said that the government was “totally mobilized.”“It is an enormous tragedy,” President François Hollande said in a statement. On Twitter, he said that the government was “totally mobilized.”
Mr. Hollande, who was in Greece for a state visit, said at a news conference in Athens that catastrophe was “not too strong a word” to describe the accident.Mr. Hollande, who was in Greece for a state visit, said at a news conference in Athens that catastrophe was “not too strong a word” to describe the accident.
“We must offer our greatest compassion to the families, share the grief, but also get to know everything about the circumstances of this accident and provide emergency help because it is still necessary,” Mr. Hollande said. “I am experiencing great sadness.”“We must offer our greatest compassion to the families, share the grief, but also get to know everything about the circumstances of this accident and provide emergency help because it is still necessary,” Mr. Hollande said. “I am experiencing great sadness.”