A bus traveling from Spain to Romania crashed yesterday (September 2 ) in France, killing a young girl and injuring dozens of people. According to reports in the media, the bus was carrying Romanian passengers.It was traveling on the A8 highway between Nice and Aix and the crash occurred after a tire blew out just after the Vidauban rest spot.

Local police say 50 people were on board, of whom an 18 month old girl was killed, 12 were seriously injured, including the driver, 30 received minor injuries and seven were unhurt. The most critically injured are currently at a hospital in Marseille, according to the French media.

Frédéric Cuvillier, from France's Transport Ministry, visited three victims at a hospital in Toulon yesterday and said, “There seems to be no doubt that a tire blew out.” He also sent “a message of sympathy, compassion and condolences” to the Romanians, quoted by French news service Le Point.

The accident occurred at 09:40 yesterday morning. The bus had set off from Madrid, Spain and was en route to Suceava, with a stop also scheduled for Bistrita.

Liam Lever, liam@romania-insider.com