Overview
- The coach, which caught fire Monday on the route to Collège de Régny, was destroyed and all 42 students escaped without injury.
- A following motorist, André Royer, alerted the driver with his horn and called emergency services, and the mayor said the driver’s quick action prevented a tragedy.
- Witnesses reported the bus doors would not open because the hydraulic system failed near the burning engine, so the driver forced a door to free the children.
- About twenty firefighters extinguished the blaze in roughly 30 minutes, preventing spread to nearby homes though heat damaged overhead electrical cables.
- Investigators are assessing a suspected diesel leak from a failed engine hose, and the bus operator has not responded to reporters’ questions.