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40 die in worst road crash in France in 30 years

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At least 42 people died when a bus carrying elderly day trippers collided head-on with a lorry and caught fire near Bordeaux early yesterday, in France's worst road crash in more than 30 years.

Another eight people were injured in the collision on a country road near Puisseguin in the Gironde region, about 60km east of Bordeaux in south-western France.

The bus was carrying about 50 pensioners south to the Bearn region from their homes in the village of Petit Palais and surrounding hamlets, all just a few kilometres from the crash site, said officials.

A spokesman for the interior ministry said that, as far as he could tell, all the passengers were French and from the region.

President Francois Hollande, speaking during a visit to Athens, said he had been "plunged into sadness by the tragedy" and Prime Minister Manuel Valls and other ministers were heading to the crash site.

It was the most deadly road accident in France since 53 people, mostly children, died in a bus crash in Burgundy in July 1982.

Source: Reuters.

European newsFranceTragedyBordeauxUncategorisedDeath