At least 42 people, many of them elderly, are dead after a lorry and a bus collide in southwest France in the country’s worst road disaster since 1982, officials say.
The Friday incident prompted President Francois Hollande to tweet a message during an official visit to Athens. "The French government has fully mobilized after this terrible tragedy," he said.
The incident took place early in the day, when the two vehicles collided head-on on a single carriageway road near the Puisseguin town north of Bordeaux. Both vehicles caught fire after the collision.
According to local authorities in the Girnode region, the victims were passengers of the bus as well as the driver of the lorry.
Some eight passengers escaped the fire, five of whom sustained injuries and were transferred to hospital.
The bus was reportedly carrying 49 pensioners from the town of Petit-Palais-et-Cornemps to a holiday resort.
The crash took place at a turn, which is known by local residents as being dangerous, reports said.
The road accident is France’s worst since 1982, when 52 people died in Beaune.
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