Three people have died and at least 38 others are injured after a coach carrying tourists crashed into the side of a cliff face in southern France.
A total of 47 people including the driver were onboard the bus when it crashed near the Porte-Puymorens ski resort, the regional administration said.
Seven people, including a four-year-old child, have been admitted to hospital with serious injuries.
Local authorities said a preliminary investigation showed the bus ran into a cliff, but the exact circumstances were not immediately clear. It is thought that the driver lost control following a problem with its brakes.
Images released by the local firefighter service showed the bus pressed against the side of a cliff, its right side partially crushed and its windshield apparently knocked out.
More than 120 individuals were involved in the rescue effort, including from neighbouring Catalonia in Spain and Andorra. Helicopters were also deployed.
Catalonia’s emergency services said on X that the bus originated from L’Hospitalet de Llobregat, outside Barcelona, Spain.
A witness named only at Laurent, an off-duty firefighter, told the Perpignan-based Indépendant news outlet: ‘We were driving behind. He [the driver] had been zigzagging for a kilometer and a half.
‘It seemed like he was trying to rub the barrier, as if he wanted to lose speed, before crashing into the cliff.’
Jean-Philippe Augé, the Mayor of Porté-Puymorens, said: ‘This is a tragedy, and we have to be cautious about the human toll. It could rise overnight.
‘What I can tell you is that the road in question, the RN320, is not known for being particularly accident-prone.
‘It is narrow, of course, and the bend on the descent is a bit sharp, but until now it has never been the cause of accidents of this seriousness’.
Mr Augé said a ‘psychological unit’ had been set up in his town’s holiday centre, to help survivors and their familes.
All of those on board the coach had spent the day Christmas shopping in El Pas de la Casa, the Andorran ski resort, which is about 150 miles from Barcelona.
A local emergency services spokesperson said: ‘Five helicopters are involved in an operation to rescue more victims.
‘So far, three people have died, and eight others are in intensive care in nearby hospital.’
They added that the injured four-year-old was one of the casualties in intensive care.
The coach, which was on its way back to its home depot in Barcelona following a day trip to Andorra, was the only vehicle involved in the accident.
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