Millas train-bus collision
 | This article may be excessively based on contemporary reporting. (March 2024) |
| Perpignan crash | |
|---|---|
 Area map of the crash site with routes of school bus (yellow line) and train (purple line) before collision. | |
| Details | |
| Date | 14 December 2017 around 16:00 CET (15:00 UTC) |
| Location | Millas, Arrondissement of Perpignan, Occitanie |
| Coordinates | 42°41′08″N 2°42′14″E / 42.68547°N 2.70399°E |
| Country | France |
| Line | Perpignan – Villefranche-de-Conflent |
| Operator | SNCF |
| Incident type | Collision with a road vehicle on a level crossing |
| Cause | Under investigation |
| Statistics | |
| Deaths | 6 (the fifth victim died the day after the crash, the sixth was announced on 18 December)[1] |
| Injured | 24 |
The Perpignan crash occurred on about 4pm 14 December 2017 at a level crossing in the commune of Millas, in the French department of Pyrénées-Orientales, between a coach carrying high school students and a TER train, which connects Villefranche - Vernet-les-Bains and Perpignan stations.
Six pupils on board were killed and 24 were seriously injured by the accident. Trains between Perpignan and Villefranche were cancelled.[2][3]
Vehicles involved
[edit]Bus
[edit]The road vehicle is a school bus Irisbus Récréo of the company Autocars Faur based in Toulouse that brought back 23 students.[4][5]
Train
[edit]The railway vehicle is a self-propelled train of series Z 7300 (element Z 7369).[6]
Place
[edit]The collision occurred at a level crossing equipped with two half-gates, about one kilometre from the school, at the automatic level crossing No. 25 of the line from Perpignan to Villefranche - Vernet-les-Bains at the place known as Los Palaus in the commune of Millas, about twenty kilometres west of Perpignan[7] on departmental road 612 (named Route de Thuir on this section).
Victims
[edit]Four pupils on board were killed on the day, and 24 were seriously injured – one of whom died the following day.[8][2] A sixth fatality was recorded on 18 December.[9]
Investigation
[edit]While visiting the scene, Prime Minister Édouard Philippe said that the "circumstances of this terrible drama are still undetermined."[10] The Minister of Transport Élisabeth Borne also visited the scene.[3] An SNCF official said "several witnesses said the barrier was down" at the time of the crash.[10] According to her employer, the bus driver says that the barriers were up and safe. Drugs and alcohol tests for both the train and the bus drivers were negative.[11]
References
[edit]- ^ "French Death Toll Rises to 5 Children in Train-Bus Crash". The New York Times. Associated Press. 15 December 2017. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
- ^ a b Oliphant, Vickiie (14 December 2017). "Horror as 4 teenagers killed and 24 injured as school bus cut in half in train crash". Daily Express. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
- ^ a b "VIDÉO. Pyrénées-Orientales: Quatre enfants tués et une vingtaine de blessés dans une collision entre un bus scolaire et un train". 20 minutes. 14 December 2017. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
- ^ "Millas : les barrières auraient été fermées, la conductrice du bus en garde à vue". ladepeche.fr (in French). Retrieved 30 December 2023.
- ^ "[VIDEO] Millas : la polémique monte entre le patron de la société de bus et la SNCF sur l'état des barrières". ladepeche.fr (in French). Retrieved 30 December 2023.
- ^ "Accident de Millas: enquête sur une tragédie". parismatch.com (in French). 22 December 2017. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
- ^ à 08h29, Par Par Nicolas Jacquard et Bartolomé Simon Le 15 décembre 2017 (15 December 2017). "Tragédie au passage à niveau à Millas : "C'est un spectacle d'horreur"". leparisien.fr (in French). Retrieved 11 January 2024.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "France Millas train crash: Children killed as bus cut in two". BBC News. 15 December 2017.
- ^ "Death toll from French school bus collision rises to six – official". Reuters. 18 December 2017. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
- ^ a b "Four children killed in bus-train collision in southern France". New York Daily News. Associated Press. 14 December 2017. Archived from the original on 6 March 2018. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
- ^ Constant, Julien; Boutry, Timothée; Ducos, Jean-Marc (16 December 2017). "Collision à Millas : les investigations s'annoncent difficiles". Le Parisien. Retrieved 19 December 2017.