Three killed as French school coach crashes in Italy

A bus carrying a French school party overturned on a motorway in Tuscany yesterday, killing three people, including a 13-year-old student, police said.

The coach, on its way back from Florence, was carrying 59 pupils, teachers and drivers from the western French town of Bordeaux, according to the Ansa news agency. Initial reports said 57 were on board.

It crashed near the town of Massa Carrara, on the northeast Italian coast, and local media said it fell down a four-metre slope before coming to rest on its roof.

"Two adults and a 13-year-old, all French, have died," a police officer from the nearby town of Viareggio said.

Investigators said the accident may have been caused by the driver being taken ill or falling asleep at the wheel.