FRANCE:Twenty-six Polish pilgrims died yesterday when their coach careered down a hillside and burst into flames at the foot of a village near the southeastern French city of Grenoble.
The coach smashed through a roadside barrier after apparently suffering braking problems as it descended the steep RN85 trunk road at a notorious blackspot, rescue officials said.
Most victims perished in the fire, said emergency officials, adding they would need help from forensic experts in Paris to identify the victims by their DNA.
Gendarme (police) Lieutenant-Colonel Thierry Rousseau said that of the 24 injured, 12 were in a critical condition and had been evacuated to hospital "in an absolute emergency".
"Witnesses spoke of a problem with the braking system, an unusual black smoke," he said. Local officials said the coach's speed may also have been a factor in the accident.
Television pictures showed several bodies laid out under white sheets on the grassy banks of the Romanche river, the coach still smouldering in the background as fire crews doused it with foam. Rescue workers put survivors on drips, wrapped them in gold survival blankets and shielded them from the sun with parasols ahead of their evacuation.
Several helicopters and a fleet of emergency vehicles ferried the injured to hospital in Grenoble in an operation that mobilised 60 police as well as firefighters.
The French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, sent a message of condolence to his Polish counterpart Lech Kaczynski.
Meanwhile, the French prime minister, François Fillon, visited the scene.
The incident happened at the Laffrey gradient, where a Belgian coach crashed in July 1973, killing 43 people.
Polish television said the pilgrims were from parishes in the Szczecin area of northwestern Poland and were due to return home tomorrow.
The Polish foreign ministry has set up telephone hotlines for relatives.
The Poles had been attending a pilgrimage at the nearby Notre Dame de la Salette sanctuary with nationals from Belarus, Ukraine, France, Russia and Britain.