France confirms Polish casualties in bus crash
PR dla Zagranicy
Nick Hodge
11.09.2012 12:58
The French Minister of Transport has confirmed that two Polish citizens have died in a bus accident near the city of Mulhouse, eastern France.
photo - EPA/Patrick Seeger
Over thirty Poles are believed to be injured, nine of whom are in critical condition, according to Bogdan Bernarczyk-Slonski, the Polish consul in Lille.
The accident occurred around 9 am on Tuesday morning, with the Polish bus turned over on its side on the A36 motorway, near the German border.
One of the passengers, Adrian Grabowiec, has claimed that the driver made an error while trying to perform a manoeuvre.
“The driver, was was rather young, tried to turn around, but he didn't estimate the speed very well,” Grabowiec told Polish public television network TVP.
“This put us up on the sides of the wheels, and by then it was too late,” he said.
Initial tests indicate that the driver was sober.
The bus belonged the Sindbad firm, and it is understood that the tourists were from Warsaw and Lodz, bound for Marseilles.
The Polish Foreign Ministry has set up a special line for those concerned about loved ones (+48 22 5239448). (nh)