France: 4 dead in second Portuguese bus crash on same road

France: 4 dead in second Portuguese bus crash on same road
By Euronews
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A revised official account a coach crash in central France says four people were killed and 25 injured in the accident in the early hours of Sunday morning.

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A revised official account a coach crash in central France says four people were killed and 25 injured in the accident in the early hours of Sunday morning.
Three of those hurt, including a two-year-old child, are said to be in a very serious condition.

It’s the second fatal bus crash involving Portuguese nationals on the same French road in under a year.

The bus was carrying more than 30 Portuguese nationals to Switzerland when the coach came off the road shortly before 4.30am near Charolles in the Saone-et-Loire department.

Over 70 emergency workers were sent to the scene between the towns of Paray-le-Monial and Macon.

It’s thought the cause may have been ice on the road, the RN79, which has a reputation for being dangerous and is known as the “la route de la mort (the route of death)”.

“It is early to give you the exact circumstances that are to be determined but what is certain is that it is a loss of control, most likely in a place that is slippery, the road was icy this morning. About other circumstances it will take some time to determine them,” said the public prosecutor for Macon, Karine Malara.

After the crash the authorities in the region advised motorists not to take to the road because of the conditions.

Last March another crash on a different section of the same road killed 12 people – again Portuguese nationals – when a minibus was in collision with a lorry in the neighbouring Allier department.

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