Bus carrying Poles crashes in France killing 24

PARIS (Reuters) - French police said at least 24 people died on Sunday when a coach carrying Polish pilgrims plunged down a hillside and burst into flames near the southeastern French city of Grenoble.

The coach, carrying around 50 Polish nationals, apparently suffered problems with its braking system while descending a steep incline. It left the road, cleared roadside barriers and careered downhill, emergency officials said.
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The vehicle came to rest on the banks of the river Romanche and burst into flames, they added.

"The toll has now risen to 24 dead, 24 injured and two missing," gendarme (police) Lt-Colonel Thierry Rousseau told Reuters by telephone. Of the injured, 12 were in a serious condition, he added.

Local officials said the coach's speed and the state of its brakes may have been factors in the accident.

Pictures broadcast on LCI television showed rescue workers treating survivors on the grassy banks of the Romanche, the carcass of the coach still smouldering in the background.

Debris was strewn around the river bank where the coach finally came to rest.

French Prime Minister Francois Fillon would visit the crash site later in the day, his office said. The Polish consul in Lyon was also heading there, Warsaw said.

Original News at: Reuters UK