French bus driver placed under formal investigation after Ain crash that killed two, prosecutor says

As of 8:13 p.m. ET, Monday, Nov. 9, 2026

Two people died after a bus left the road near Lent in France's Ain department on Friday morning, Nov. 6, and the driver has since been placed under formal investigation, the Bourg-en-Bresse prosecutor's office said.

Procureure de la République Karine Malara said one of the dead was a minor and the second was just of majority age — a young adult. GROKsiNEWS.com is not naming the dead. The prefecture had initially said two minors died, franceinfo reported.

On Friday evening, Malara said the driver, a 26-year-old who was hospitalized with leg injuries, had been placed under the regime of garde à vue (police custody) and told investigators he had dozed off. "Il indique qu'il se serait assoupi," she said, according to franceinfo, Europe 1 and Le Progrès. When he woke up, she said, he found himself on the other side of the roadway, struck several trees lining the road and came to rest in a ravine. Early passenger accounts corroborated that he appeared to have fallen asleep, she said. Initial alcohol and drug tests were negative, the prosecutor said. Garde à vue is police custody for questioning; it is not a formal charge and is not mise en examen.

On Sunday, Nov. 8, Malara announced in a communiqué that the driver — still unnamed by prosecutors — had been mis en examen that day on counts of involuntary homicide by a motor-vehicle driver and involuntary injuries, franceinfo, BFM TV (with AFP) and Le Progrès reported. Re-interviewed by the Lyon gendarmerie research section, he confirmed he had started work very early, felt tired and fallen asleep before the impact, the prosecutor said. Initial road-homicide and aggravated road-injury headings were not retained for lack of aggravating circumstances, she said. He was placed under judicial supervision (contrôle judiciaire) with, among other conditions, a ban on driving and an obligation to seek care. Mise en examen is a formal step in a judicial investigation and is not a conviction.

Toll and scene

Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot said 49 people were aboard, franceinfo reported. At a Friday evening briefing, Malara said 25 other people were injured, including four seriously, with two still in life-threatening condition, France 3 Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes reported. On Sunday she said the condition of hospitalized victims had not changed in a major way. The death toll remained two.

Lent's mayor, Yves Cristin, told French media the bus left the road and hit a tree in a ditch. The crash was reported around 7 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. local time on a regional intercity route between Lyon and Bourg-en-Bresse, according to the prefecture and live coverage. Tabarot went to the scene at midday, France 3 reported.

French officials and media have disagreed over how to describe the vehicle. Ministers and some coverage initially framed it as a school bus (car scolaire). The Ain prefecture described a regional intercity transport line (ligne de transport interurbain). Tabarot later said the bus did not operate exclusively on school routes but that many schoolchildren were aboard, according to the BBC. GROKsiNEWS.com is attributing the dispute and not choosing one label.

The driver's account that he dozed off is attributed through the prosecutor; investigators have not established a final cause. Officials have not said weather alone explained the wreck; the mayor told Le Figaro there was some fog and a wet road but "no major difficulties," the BBC reported.