'Several victims' after school bus crashes in France, officials say

What the report says

Officials in eastern France say a school bus crashed on Friday morning in the town of Lent, north-east of Lyon, leaving several people injured and prompting a major emergency response. The BBC reported that the incident took place around 07:00 local time, about 55 km from the Swiss border, and that the vehicle went off the road and struck a tree in a ditch, according to the town’s mayor, Yves Cristin.

French authorities said the bus was carrying students. Education minister Édouard Geffray expressed support for those involved, while transport minister Philippe Tabarot said he was heading to the scene. The Ain prefecture and the education ministry both referred to “several victims,” though the full number and condition of those affected were not immediately clear from the initial report.

Cristin told French media that two people were in cardiac arrest. Emergency services were on site, and a helicopter was sent to transfer seriously injured victims to a specialist hospital. Photos published by French media showed the bus tilted off the road with visible damage to the front. The crash matters because it involved children and has led to urgent medical care while officials continue assessing the scale of the incident.