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French Education Minister Edouard Geffray reported several victims after a school bus crashed in the Ain department of eastern France on Friday morning. The incident took place in the village of Lent, south of Bourg-en-Bresse and close to the Swiss border. Reuters reported that the area prefect described the vehicle as an intercity bus carrying children even as the minister referred to it as a school bus. Local authorities activated the departmental operations center to manage the response and asked the public to steer clear of the zone.
Mayor of Lent Yves Cristin told AFP that the bus had left the road before hitting a tree in the ditch around 7 a.m. local time. Cristin added that two individuals were in cardiac arrest at the scene with several more passengers sustaining injuries. Two helicopters were dispatched to assist with the emergency alongside ground paramedics as part of the coordinated rescue.
Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot announced he was heading to the crash site to receive direct briefings from responders. BFM TV reported that at least two fatalities had been confirmed in the collision. The education minister stated, “I cannot but start by expressing my condolences to these students and their families. For us it is always a difficult ordeal when our students – when our children – become victims of accidents of this nature.”
The crash response included the immediate activation of local crisis plans across the Ain region. Emergency teams worked to extract victims from the wreckage and provide on-site medical care before transfers to area hospitals. Officials have yet to disclose the total number of children aboard or detailed conditions for all those involved.
Similar incidents have drawn scrutiny to school transport safety in France in past years. A 2017 collision between a train and a school bus in Millas that killed five children prompted reviews of level-crossing protocols according to earlier government assessments. The current event in Lent has again placed focus on road conditions and vehicle operations for student routes.
Investigators are expected to examine factors that caused the bus to leave the roadway once the emergency phase concludes. The education ministry and transport authorities will likely coordinate on any immediate safety measures for other school services in the area. Regional officials continued to update the public on the rescue progress through Friday afternoon.
