At least two people have lost their lives, one of them a minor, and another 16 have been injured, three in a serious condition, after the incident involving an interurban bus that occurred this Friday near the French municipality of Lent, in the area of Bourg-en-Bresse, in the east of the country.
According to a provisional report released by the authorities of the Ain department, around 40 people were traveling in the vehicle, among them 15 minors.
The French Minister of Transport, Philippe Tabarot, has gone to the point of the incident, where he specified that the minor victim is a seven-year-old girl and that the other deceased person is an 18-year-old young man. Both were on board a coach that "was not exclusively school" and that was "in very good condition".
The Bourg-en-Bresse Prosecutor’s Office has informed that the bus driver is admitted to a hospital and has not yet been able to be questioned, although the first tests for drug detection have yielded negative results.
"Terrible car accident in Ain. My thoughts are with the victims, the injured, and their families," said the President of France, Emmanuel Macron, who has underlined that "the nation is with them".
For his part, the French Prime Minister, Sébastien Lecornu, has expressed his condolences and support to the families and loved ones of the victims, as well as to "all the people affected by this tragedy," in a message shared on social media.
In that same communication, Lecornu thanked the work of firefighters, health personnel and security forces for their intervention to assist those affected and indicated that the Minister of Transport, Philippe Tabarot, "is heading to the scene".