Bus carrying kids to school crashes in France, leaving 2 dead and 16 injured

An intercity bus that was carrying children and teenagers to school crashed on Friday morning in eastern France, killing one minor and one young adult, French authorities said.French gendarmes and rescue workers work at the site of a school bus crash, killing at least two people and injuring many others, including children, in Lent, in the Ain department, France, November 6, 2026. (REUTERS/Denis Balibouse)The prefecture in the Ain region said one minor and one young adult were killed, while 16 people were injured, including three seriously.Transport minister Philippe Tabarot said on X that he was heading to the site following “a serious bus accident” near the small town of Lent, in a rural area north-east of Lyon.“An accident involving an intercity bus occurred near Lent, France, with multiple casualties reported,” the prefecture said in a statement. Emergency services and law enforcement officers have been deployed to the scene, it said.ALSO READ | France's mega protests: 448 arrested as students, workers march across the country | In picsNews broadcaster BFM TV reported that the passengers included children traveling to middle and high schools in the area. A photo from the scene showed the bus had veered off the road and landed in a ditch.“It is always a difficult moment when our students, our children, are victims of an accident like this. My thoughts, and those of the government and the entire education community, are with the families,” Education minister Édouard Geffray told reporters on the sidelines of a visit to a high school in the Paris region.