Wire reporting: (AP, via ABC News)

A bus carrying schoolchildren crashed Friday morning near Lent in eastern France, killing a child and a young adult, French authorities said^1,2.

BBC, citing local authorities, said one child and one young adult died after a crash about 07:00 local time on a route between Lyon and Bourg-en-Bresse, about 55 kilometers (34 miles) from Switzerland¹. The Ain prefecture, in an Associated Press account carried by ABC News, said one minor and one young adult were killed and 16 people were injured, including three seriously².

BBC later reported that the Bourg-en-Bresse prosecutor’s office said the bus was carrying 43 passengers, including 15 children, that three people were in critical condition and 13 had minor injuries, and that a young girl and an 18-year-old man were identified as the dead, with differing reports of the girl’s age¹. Advance Local, with Associated Press contribution, identified the dead as a 7-year-old girl and an 18-year-old boy and quoted Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot as saying a regional-authority bus was transporting about 15 students and other passengers³.

Lent Mayor Yves Cristin told French media the bus left the road and hit a tree in a ditch¹. BBC said he told Le Figaro there was a bit of fog and the road was wet but no major difficulties¹. Advance Local said he told Franceinfo the road was a little wet, there was no fog, and it was not clear why the bus left the road³.

BBC said the prosecutor’s office was opening an investigation on charges of road homicide and aggravated road-traffic injuries, and that the injured driver had not yet been questioned¹. Tabarot said the bus did not operate exclusively on school routes but that many schoolchildren were on board, according to BBC¹. ABC News said he posted that he was heading to the site². Education Minister Édouard Geffray commented on students being involved, BBC and ABC News reported^1,2.

News channel BFM TV reported that passengers included children traveling to middle and high schools nearby^2,3. BBC said medical helicopters were used and more than 100 firefighters and 50 gendarmes were at the scene¹. The cause of the crash has not been established^1,3.