An intercity bus carrying students on their way to school crashed Friday morning in eastern France, leaving one minor and one young adult dead, according to French authorities.
The Ain regional prefecture reported that 16 people were injured in the collision, including three who sustained serious injuries.
Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot said on X that he was traveling to the scene after what he described as a “serious bus accident” near Lent, a rural town northeast of Lyon.
“An accident involving an intercity bus occurred near Lent, France, with multiple casualties reported,” the prefecture said in a statement.
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Emergency responders and police officers were dispatched to the crash site, officials said.
French broadcaster BFM TV reported that children traveling to nearby middle and high schools were among the passengers.
Images from the scene showed the bus had left the roadway and come to rest in a ditch.
“It is always a difficult moment when our students, our children, are victims of an accident like this. My thoughts, and those of the government and the entire education community, are with the families,” Education Minister Édouard Geffray told reporters during a visit to a high school in the Paris region.
