Posted on 04/18/2004 3:53:30 PM PDT by Pharmboy
PARIS (AP) - A bus carrying American teenage soccer players overturned in a ditch east of Paris on Sunday, killing one and seriously injuring three others, officials said. The roads were wet from overnight rain, but authorities in the Seine-et-Marne region said it was not immediately clear why the tour bus, carrying about 34 people - including two drivers - overturned near Mitry-Mory, east of Paris.
A 16-year-old boy, who was not identified, was killed and three young teens were seriously injured. Eight other people were lightly injured, and many others were treated for shock.
The teenagers, all boys, were members of an Olympic development program from North Carolina and had arrived in Europe 10 days ago for a series of matches, according to the North Carolina Youth Soccer Association Web site.
The teenager killed was a member of the program, the site said, adding that at least one of the adults accompanying the boys was also hurt.
Regional prosecutor Philibert Demory, speaking on Europe-1 radio, said the bus "was carrying youths returning from a soccer tournament in the area of Nantes," a city in western France.
He said they were on the way to Paris' Charles de Gaulle airport to fly to Atlanta, Ga.
An investigation was under way, and Demory said "early signs lead one to believe" excessive speed was the cause. He said the two drivers were in police custody for questioning.
U.S. Ambassador Howard Leach visited some of the injured at a hospital near the scene of the accident, an embassy spokesman said.
Some 30 rescue vehicles, more than 80 rescue workers and three helicopters worked to care for and evacuate the injured.
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As much as I can't stand the French, I have to interject.
A few years ago, there was a tour bus out of Massachusetts, going to New Brunswick. Newton North High School students visitng Eastern Canada. There were two drivers. At 4:30 AM, one of them took a curve too fast in Sussex, NB. Three students were killed.
The moral? Sh*t happens.
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