Pilgrims’ bus crashes, burns; 26 die
Mon., July 23, 2007
GRENOBLE, France – A bus carrying Polish Catholic pilgrims from a holy site in the French Alps plunged off a mountain road, crashed into a riverbank and burst into flames Sunday, killing 26 people, authorities said.
Fourteen others were seriously injured in the wreck on a dangerous stretch of road where bus accidents have killed dozens of people. Firefighters said the bus did not have the special permit required to use the 12 percent gradient road.
Polish President Lech Kaczynski and his French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy traveled to Grenoble late Sunday to meet with the injured. Sarkozy said he was “shattered by the scale of the tragedy” and pledged to follow closely the investigation into the cause of the accident.
Local journalism is essential.
Give directly to The Spokesman-Review's Northwest Passages community forums series -- which helps to offset the costs of several reporter and editor positions at the newspaper -- by using the easy options below. Gifts processed in this system are not tax deductible, but are predominately used to help meet the local financial requirements needed to receive national matching-grant funds.
Subscribe now to get breaking news alerts in your email inbox
Get breaking news delivered to your inbox as it happens.
