Two deaths aged 7 and 18, an investigation opened for “road homicide”… What we know about the bus accident near Bourg-en-Bresse, in Ain

The tragedy occurred around 7 a.m., Friday November 6, on the D22 departmental road, in the Lent sector (Ain), located about ten kilometers south of Bourg-en-Bresse. A bus from an interurban transport line, traveling between Lyon and Bourg-en-Bresse, "left the road and hit a tree in the ditch", Yves Cristin, the mayor of Lent, told AFP. Here's what we know about it.

Two people dead and 16 injured

The human toll is particularly heavy. The prosecution announced that two people died in the accident, a 7-year-old girl and an 18-year-old young man. Sixteen other people were injured, including three seriously, according to the prefecture. Around twenty passengers are in relative emergency. “Above all, there is a great trauma,” declared the Minister of Transport, Philippe Tabarot, during a press briefing held at midday on site. He reported that 49 people were on board, including "around fifteen schoolchildren".

A major emergency system mobilized

On site, a major rescue system was deployed, including the intervention of four aerial aircraft, 50 gendarmes, 102 firefighters on board 58 machines and eight mobile emergency and resuscitation structures. The prefect and the prosecutor of Ain as well as the president of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regional council, Fabrice Pannekoucke, went to the scene to monitor the situation and support the operations.

Faced with the seriousness of the accident, the departmental operational center was activated by the prefect of Ain. This structure makes it possible to coordinate the action of all the actors involved in crisis management.

The municipal protection plan has been triggered. The municipality, for its part, welcomes the families of those involved in the accident in the Lent village hall. A psychological unit has also been set up. Approved civil security and victim assistance associations were also called upon for support. A crisis number has been set up by the prefecture: 09 70 80 90 40.

Due to the emergency response and ongoing operations, the authorities are asking the population to avoid the Lent sector. Diversions have been put in place by the departmental council to secure the area.

Circumstances still unknown

At this stage, the precise circumstances of this exit from the road remain to be determined. The reasons why the bus left the road are not yet known. The driver of the bus was “a young driver”. It “seems that the first tests [concerning possible consumption of narcotics or alcohol] are negative,” said the Minister of Transport. The vehicle was “in very good condition” and had passed “all checks positively”, he added.

“The public prosecutor's office, which immediately went to the scene of the accident, decided to open a blatant investigation into charges of road homicide and aggravated road injuries, entrusted to the research section of the Lyon gendarmerie,” the prefecture said in a press release. The driver, hospitalized, has not yet been heard.