A seven-year-old girl and an 18-year-old man were killed in eastern France on Friday when a bus carrying schoolchildren crashed after its driver fell asleep.
Three people were in critical condition while around 20 others had less serious injuries in the Friday morning accident near the village of Lent, Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot said.
The 26-year-old driver, who is in police custody, told authorities he must have “dozed off”, said prosecutor Karine Malara.
“When he woke up, he found himself on the other side of the road and collided with several trees lining the roadside, before coming to a halt in the ravine,” she added.
The bus was travelling between the city of Lyon and the town of Bourg-en-Bresse with 43 passengers, including 15 minors on their way to school, prosecutors said.
Regional weekly La Voix de l’Ain published a photograph showing the white-and-blue bus in a ditch, with its front end heavily damaged.
A 17-year-old survivor said the bus was littered with shattered glass and blood, with tree branches protruding inside and broken phones scattered throughout.
The bus had passed through Lent when, shortly afterwards, “the driver made a very sharp turn of the wheel,” the student told reporters.
They were travelling in the right-hand lane before the bus moved into the left-hand lane, she said. “Then we went straight into a ditch.”
“All the windows burst open,” she said. “We all got out through the windows or through the middle of the bus because it had opened up.”
The teenager said she and others tried to help as many people as possible.
An investigation into homicide by vehicle had been opened.
The driver, who had to be freed from the wreckage, underwent drug screening tests and “the initial results appear to be negative”, said Tabarot.
He is hospitalised with leg injuries, according to prosecutors.
Jean-Francois Debat, mayor of Bourg-en-Bresse, described the road as “well maintained”.
A victim support group said many people were “in shock”. They were being cared for at the town hall, where a psychological support unit had been set up.
Accidents involving public transport are relatively rare in France.
The deadliest road disaster in France took place in August 1982 when a motorway pile-up caused several vehicles to catch fire, including a coach carrying children on their way to a summer camp.
The tragedy claimed a total of 53 lives, including 46 children.
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