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Millas crash

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Perpignan crash
Area map of the crash site with routes of school bus (yellow line) and train (purple line) before collision.
Area map of the crash site with routes of school bus (yellow line) and train (purple line) before collision.
Details
Date14 December 2017
around 16:00 CET (15:00 UTC)
LocationMillas, Arrondissement of Perpignan, Occitanie
Coordinates42°41′08″N 2°42′14″E / 42.68547°N 2.70399°E / 42.68547; 2.70399
CountryFrance
LinePerpignanVillefranche-de-Conflent
OperatorSNCF
Incident typeCollision with a road vehicle on a level crossing
CauseUnder investigation
Statistics
Deaths6 (the fifth victim died the day after the crash, the sixth was announced on 18 December)[1]
Injured24

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

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Bus

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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

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The railway vehicle is a self-propelled train of series Z 7300 (element Z 7369).[6]

Place

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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

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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

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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

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  1. ^ "French Death Toll Rises to 5 Children in Train-Bus Crash". The New York Times. Associated Press. 15 December 2017. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
  2. ^ 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.
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ^ "Millas : les barrières auraient été fermées, la conductrice du bus en garde à vue". ladepeche.fr (in French). Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  5. ^ "[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.
  6. ^ "Accident de Millas: enquête sur une tragédie". parismatch.com (in French). 22 December 2017. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  7. ^ 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)
  8. ^ "France Millas train crash: Children killed as bus cut in two". BBC News. 15 December 2017.
  9. ^ "Death toll from French school bus collision rises to six – official". Reuters. 18 December 2017. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
  10. ^ 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.
  11. ^ Constant, Julien; Boutry, Timothée; Ducos, Jean-Marc (16 December 2017). "Collision à Millas : les investigations s'annoncent difficiles". Le Parisien. Retrieved 19 December 2017.