Bus carrying retirees collides with truck in France, killing 43

Reporting from London —  A bus carrying retirees on a day trip collided with a truck in southwestern France on Friday, bursting into flames and killing 43 people.

The accident occurred about 7:30 a.m. on a winding country road near the village of Puisseguin, which is set among the picturesque vineyards east of Bordeaux and about 270 miles southwest of Paris.

The passengers were members of a social club for retirees who had boarded the bus a short time before the accident in the small village of Petit-Palais-et-Cornemps. The group was heading to Arzacq-Arraziguet, about 120 miles away, where they were scheduled to stop for lunch, according to French news reports.

As their bus approached a sharp bend in the road, it collided with a wood-hauling truck, which was headed uphill in the opposite direction.

Both vehicles burst into flames, killing 41 people on board the bus, the truck driver and his 3-year-old son, who was found in the cab, police officials said. Eight people were injured, four seriously, they said.

The cause of the crash was not immediately clear. The weather was overcast but dry.

The bus driver, who suffered slight injuries, “had the presence of mind to open the doors and let as many passengers as possible leave the bus,” Xavier Subblet, the mayor of Puisseguin, told the French newspaper Sud Ouest. The paper reported that there were 50 people aboard the bus, including the driver.

It was France’s worst road accident since 1982, when 53 people, including 44 children, died.

President Francois Hollande, on a visit to Greece, described the day’s events as a tragedy and promised a full investigation. Prime Minister Manuel Valls rushed to the scene and
expressed condolences to the victims and their families.

“It’s an unbelievable catastrophe,” he said. “It’s a terrible shock for France.”

Locals described the bend in the road where the accident took place as perilous. Aerial images of the scene show the charred remains of the bus.

Residents of Petit-Palais-et-Cornemps, home to many of the victims, were in shock Friday.

Fabienne Rogerie said her father was the president of the group that arranged the trip and was among the dead.

The group members were supposed to have “a meal, fun, usual things for a senior club,” she told French station iTele.

Residents told French TV that several of the cars belonging to the dead sat parked in the main square and that in such a small community they were
sure to know many of the victims.

“It’s like that; it’s a sad life,” Jacques Deval, who knew some of those involved in the accident, told iTele. “Some of them were disabled; it’s very difficult, they could not get out.”

Boyle is a special correspondent.