Lent (France) (AFP) – A regional bus carrying adults and around fifteen students left the road on Friday morning south of Bourg-en-Bresse (Ain), killing two young people, including a minor, and injuring 16 people, three of whom were serious.
Published on: 06/11/2026 - 11:38 Modified on: 06/11/2026 - 12:44
The hospitalized driver has not yet been able to be heard at this stage, said the prosecution, which opened an investigation into road homicide, entrusted to the gendarmes.
The accident occurred around 7:30 a.m. on the D22 departmental road in the town of Lent and involved a bus from an interurban transport line, which left Lyon two hours earlier and was traveling towards Bourg-en-Bresse, according to the prefecture.
The bus "left the road and hit a tree in the ditch", reported Yves Cristin, the mayor of Lent, a town of 1,200 inhabitants crossed by the departmental road.
The media are now kept away from the accident site, but the regional weekly La Voix de l'Ain published a photo showing the bus in a ditch visibly on the other side of its axis of traffic, and the front embedded in trees.
A large white tent was set up to facilitate the work of the emergency services, according to AFP journalists.
"Tragic"
The bus was chartered by the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region and transported 43 passengers, including 15 minors, according to the prosecution.
“At this stage, there is no particular explanation that can be given,” Regional President Fabrice Pannekoucke explained to the press, specifying that this regional line was operated by a service provider.
Jean-François Débat, mayor and president of the agglomeration of Bourg-en-Bresse, speaks of a "well-maintained" road with "a slope, a slight turn to the right". This line is heavily used in the morning by workers or students.
The Minister of Education Edouard Geffray declared from a high school in the Paris region "to have a thought for these students, for their families". “For us it is always a test when our students, when our children are victims of accidents of this nature,” he added.
The Minister of Transport Philippe Tabarot is expected on site and Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu expressed his emotion at this “tragic accident”.
“In shock”
An association, Avema-France victims 01, was notably dispatched to support the victims and their loved ones and reports "people in shock, stunned" by the tragedy and taken care of in the community hall of the town where a psychological unit is in place.
“The departmental operational center making it possible to coordinate the action of all those involved in crisis management” was activated by the prefecture.
Around a hundred firefighters, around fifty police officers were deployed on site, drones and four helicopters were mobilized.
Public transport accidents are relatively rare.
More recently, in January 2025, a high school student was killed and 20 students injured when a school bus, whose driver had taken drugs, overturned on a track near Châteaudun (Eure-et-Loir).
© 2026 AFP
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