BY OSABUOHIEN VIVIAN ROSE
Two people have died and more than 30 others have been injured after their coach crashed on a mountainous road in the Pyrenees in southern France.
A total of 47 people including the driver were on board when the collision happened on Sunday at 5pm near the ski resort of Porte-Puymorens, the regional administration said.
The vehicle collided with a cliff edge on the twisting N320 road in the Pyrenees-Orientales region, which borders Spain and Andorra.
Local authorities said 10 people were critically injured, while 32 suffered non life-threatening injuries.
They were evacuated to the hospitals in Perpignan, Toulouse, Foix as well as Puigcerda in Spain, according to a statement.
The rescue operation involved more than 170 people including from neighbouring Catalonia in Spain and Andorra.
They included 133 firefighters and 40 soldiers from the National Gendarmerie.
Images released by the local firefighters showed the bus pressed against the side of a cliff.
Its right side appeared partially crushed and the windshield knocked out.
Investigation is underway to determine the cause of the crash.
France’s Transport Minister Francois Durovray offered his condolences to those involved in what he called a “serious bus accident”.
“My thoughts are with the families of the victims and all those injured,” he wrote on X.
He added the coach was travelling from Andorra through France towards Spain.
Catalonia’s emergency services said on X that the bus began journeying from L’Hospitalet de Llobregat, outside Barcelona.
