An Italian truck and a coach carrying Dutch tourists collided in eastern France today, killing seven people and injuring 27 in a crash which fuelled controversy over the working hours of Europe's truckers.
Four tourists and the Dutch driver of the coach, as well as the truck driver and his passenger, both Italians, were killed in the crash, at around 3.30 a.m. local time on a motorway just outside Metz.
The local prefect's office revised down an earlier death toll it gave of eight, which it said was due to an incorrect body count.
Three of the injured were in critical condition, the prefect's office said. Psychological counsellors working with translators had been drafted in to help survivors of the crash.
The coachload of about 60 Dutch tourists were returning from a weekend in the French Alpine resort of Valmorel.
French Transport Minister Mr Jean-Claude Gayssot sent commiserations to his Dutch counterpart Mr Tineke Netelenbos and issued a statement suggesting the accident highlighted the overwork facing many truck drivers on European roads.
"Without wishing to prejudice the results of the judicial inquest that will be held, the minister stresses the importance of a sustainable reduction in working hours," it said.