Bus crashes in eastern France, several casualties, authorities say

A bus crashed on Friday morning in eastern France near Switzerland, resulting in "several victims", local authorities said.

Education Minister Edouard Geffray said the crash involved a bus believed to be transporting school students, with the mayor of Lent, the small town where the crash took place, confirming that it was a school bus. The local prefecture said the collision involved an intercity bus.

The Lent mayor, Yves Cristin, said 70 people were affected by the crash and that it had opened its community hall to provide care and shelter to the crash victims.

BFM TV showed a picture of a blue and white bus tilted in what appeared to be a ditch on the side of the road, while a crowd of people stood outside of it.

The broadcaster reported two fatalities but a spokesman for the civil protection agency told the broadcaster he could not confirm the deaths. The prefecture also told Reuters it could not confirm any deaths.

The transport minister Philippe Tabarot said he was on his way to the scene.