At least 42 people killed in high-speed crash fireball after tourist coach collides with lorry in France(VIDEO) 프랑스서 버스-트럭 정면 충돌, 42명 사망
At least 42 people killed in high-speed crash fireball after tourist coach collides with lorry in France
1982년 이후 프랑스 최악의 교통사고
사망자 대부분 노인들
Horror smash happened around ten miles from Bordeaux at around 7.30am
Elderly and disabled passengers burned alive after getting trapped on bus
Eight managed to escape burning wreckage – four with serious injuries
Hollande expressed 'solidarity of the whole nation' with relatives of victims
Crash is the deadliest road accident in France for more than three decades
프랑스에서 버스와 트럭이 충돌해 최소 42명이 숨지는 참사가 발생했다.
AP, CNN 등 주요 외신에 따르면 23일 오전 7시 30분께(현지시각) 프랑스 남서부 지롱드 주 퓌스켕 지역에서 50여 명이 타고 있던 관광버스와 트럭이 정면으로 충돌하면서 불길에 휩싸였다.
이 사고로 버스 운전기사를 비롯한 탑승자 41명, 트럭 운전사 등 최소 42명이 숨졌으며 5명이 화상을 입었다. 버스 승객 대다수는 은퇴한 노인으로 와인 산지로 유명한 인근 보르도 지역을 여행 중인 것으로 알려졌다.
프랑스 소방 당국에 따르면 버스 탑승자 가운데 8명만이 차 유리창을 깨고 탈출에 성공했다. 이 가운데 5명이 화상을 입고 다쳐 치료를 받고 있으며, 나머지 3명은 무사한 것으로 알려졌다.
소방 당국은 정확한 사고 원인을 조사하고 있으며, 사고 당시 비는 오지 않았지만 흐린 날씨였다고 밝혔다. 또한 버스와 트럭이 충돌 후 큰 화재가 발생하면서 인명 피해가 커졌다고 설명했다.
프랑스 정부는 마뉘엘 발스 총리와 베르나르 카즈뇌브 내무장관, 알랭 비달리 교통장관 등 각료들이 사고 현장으로 가서 사후 수습을 지휘하고, 희생자 유가족을 위로하고 있다고 밝혔다.
알렉시스 치프라스 그리스 총리와 정상회담을 위해 해외 출장 중인 프랑수아 올랑드 프랑스 대통령은 성명을 통해 "엄청난 비극"이라며 "희생자와 유가족을 위해 프랑스 정부가 모두 나설 것"이라고 애도했다.
현지 언론은 이번 사고가 지난 1982년 코트도르 주에서 어린이를 포함해 53명이 숨진 사고 이후 33년 만에 프랑스에서 발생한 최악의 교통사고라고 전했다.
오마이뉴스 윤현(yoonys21)
By SIMON TOMLINSON FOR MAILONLINE
At least 42 people have died in France after a coach carrying elderly and disabled passengers collided with a lorry, causing both vehicles to burst into flames.
Many of the victims are thought to have burned alive after getting trapped in the wreckage in the country's worst road accident for three decades.
Images showed the devastating aftermath of the crash – with both vehicles reduced to cinder – at a notorious accident blackspot on a narrow winding road through woods.
Scroll down for video
Fireball horror: Aerial images show the devastating aftermath of the head-on crash between a lorry and a coach which has killed at least 42 people near Bordeaux in south-west France
Many of the victims, most of them elderly, are thought to have burned to death after getting trapped in the wreckage of the coach and were unable to smash the windows to escape
The coach was carrying a club of 49 elderly people on an excursion when it collided with the lorry near the village of Puisseguin among the vineyards of the St Emilion region.
The driver of the coach had a miracle escape after allowing a handful of his passengers to escape by opening the doors.
'It was the truck driver who clearly lost control,' claimed Xavier Sublett, the mayor of Puisseguin.
'The truck crossed to the other side of the road. The bus driver saw the accident before it happened, and tried to avoid it, but the truck hit the coach.
'He couldn't do anything to stop it, but he managed to press the release button to open the doors and allow some survivors to get out.'
But other witnesses claimed the coach had been speeding and lost control on a bend that is 'dangerous – even for cars.'
President Francois Hollande said the government was 'fully mobilised' to deal with this 'terrible tragedy'.
Tragedy: Paramedics take an injured person away from the scene of a horror crash in France
An injured person is carried away from the scene. Victims on the coach, which was carrying dozens of elderly passengers, were trapped inside the burning wreckage and were unable to smash the windows to get out
President Hollande promised an investigation into what happened, calling it an 'immense tragedy'
Speaking from Athens, where he is on an official visit, he also expressed 'the solidarity of the whole nation' with loved ones of the victims.
It has not been ruled out that Hollande might cut short his visit to Greece.
Questions were also surfacing over the safety of the route, a narrow, winding road through woods.
Legislator Noel Mamere, who represents the Gironde region where the accident occurred, said the collision was on an 'extremely dangerous curve that is considered very accident-prone,' adding 'that should make us question ourselves about political choices made in terms of infrastructure.'
A local, who asked not to be named, said there were no signs to warn of the danger on what was 'almost a blind spot'.
Legislator Gilles Savary said some roads in the region are in need of up keep. Local officials also mentioned previous accidents in the area.
The victims – who have not been named – were mainly Frenchmen and women in their 60s and 70s, and from the nearby village of Petit-Palais, and surrounding hamlets.
Shocked: Passengers on the coach were members of an elderly people's club who were on a day trip
Emergency services personnel escort people away from the site of a collision in Puisseguin, near Libourne
Distraught: President Hollande expressed 'the solidarity of the whole nation' with loved ones of the victims
Among the eight survivors, two are 'fighting for their lives'with head injuries, two are badly burned, and four are lightly injured, said aspokesman for the local prefecture.
He added that the surviving coach driver was among those who would be interviewed at length as part of a detailed investigation by police and prosecutors.
Puisseguin, which has a population of just over 800, was this morning closed to traffic and filled with emergency service vehicles.
Another resident, who asked only to be identified as Robert, said: 'Many of us heard the collision, and then saw the flames.
'It is thought that the bus was going too fast, and the driverlost control on a bend. It then smashed into the truck.
'There were a lot of elderly people on board and they were unable to get out, so were effectively burned alive.'
'Immense tragedy': Francois Hollande said his government was 'fully mobilised' to deal with the tragedy
A French emergency service helicopter prepares for take off following the fatal bus crash in Puisseguin
A French Civil guard helicopter flies overhead following the fatal bus crash in Puisseguin, near Bordeaux
The coach, carrying 49 passengers and a driver, departed early Friday from a tiny village of 650 residents near the site of the accident.
Pierre Henri-Brandet, spokesman for the interior ministry, told BFMTV that four people 'were extremely severely injured' – two with burns and two with head injuries.
The prefect of the Aquitaine region, Pierre Dartout, addresses the media in Puisseguin, near Libourne
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The prefect of the Aquitaine region, Pierre Dartout, addresses the media in Puisseguin, near Libourne
Horror: At least 42 people have died after a coach collided with a lorry, ten miles from Bordeaux in France
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Horror: At least 42 people have died after a coach collided with a lorry, ten miles from Bordeaux in France
Four others escaped with only minor injuries.
'It's an incredible tragedy with an extremely heavy toll. It's a catastrophe,' he said. 'They were retired people, elderly people, who were going on a day out.'
Henri-Brandet added that the accident happened just a few minutes after the bus left the village of Petit-Palais-Cornemps.
Details of how the crash happened were still unclear.
'Apparently, the bus slid into a bend,' a local shopkeeper from Puisseguin told French radio station RTL.
'The truck and bus were in flames. We saw smoke from 10 kilometres away.'
The group were part of a club for retired people and were heading south to the nearby region of Landes for a visit.
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