COURTERANGES (France), July 23: Four children, their driver and a 20-year-old were killed when the minibus they were travelling in crashed head-on into a truck coming the other way in France, authorities said.
Speaking to reporters hours after the accident, which took place close to the village of Courteranges near Troyes in central France, local prosecutor Alex Perrin revised an earlier toll that had said five children and their driver died in the crash.
“There was an extremely brutal impact and six people were killed — the driver, four children and a 20-year-old man,” he said, adding the children were aged 11 to 13.
“Was it a moment of inattention, was there some commotion inside the vehicle? We don’t know,” he added, confirming that the minibus drifted onto the opposite lane and hit an oncoming truck.
At least three other passengers were badly injured in the accident yesterday, but their condition was not critical while the truck driver was “in shock”, Perrin said.
French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve and Transport Minister Frederic Cuvillier visited the site of the crash earlier yesterday.
Perrin said a probe into the accident would seek to determine the exact cause of the crash, adding that the road was well maintained, and visibility and the weather at the time were good.
The crash is one of the most serious involving children since 1982, when 53 people — including 44 children — died when their bus caught fire after it collided with several vehicles on a motorway. (AGENCIES)
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