Beaune coach crash

The Beaune coach crash occurred on 31 July 1982 on the French A6 motorway near Beaune, in the Côte-d’Or département of east-central France. It remains the deadliest road traffic collision in France's history. 53 people died, including 46 children (44 on the coach and 2 in a car). Most of the victims were on board a coach which caught fire as a result of the collision. The coach passengers were from Crépy-en-Valois in the Oise département of Picardy, northern France.

At 8:00 pm on 31 July 1982, two coaches left Crépy-en-Valois, a town located approximately 60 kilometres (37 miles) north of Paris. They were carrying children and their teachers heading to a summer camp in Aussois in Savoie, in the French Alps. In the middle of the night, the two coaches were on the A6, heading towards Lyon. When they passed Beaune, it was raining and traffic was heavy on a day that is known as samedi noir (literally "black Saturday") in France, as many people leave for their summer holidays on this day.

At around 1:45 am, the general speed of traffic dropped due to the motorway becoming narrower, reducing from three lanes to two. Two cars, which were overtaking the two coaches at the point that the road narrowed, cut across behind one of the coaches and in front of the other. At the same time, the leading coach braked suddenly due to a slow-moving vehicle ahead. The second coach hit the back of the second car, causing a pile-up. The fuel tank of one of the cars was ripped open and emptied onto the road, and the petrol ignited. Six vehicles caught fire.

The first coach was evacuated by the drivers and teachers. In the second coach, a side exit was blocked by a crashed car. Nevertheless, two teachers managed to let around 15 children out through the back of the vehicle, but 44 remained trapped inside along with two drivers and two teachers. In the two cars that were travelling between the coaches, a total of five people, including two children, were killed (there were no survivors in these two cars).

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