France crash driver ‘looking for sunglasses’

The driver of a coach full of British pupils that crashed in France told investigators he lost control while looking for his sunglasses.

Two students from Cheltenham Bournside School in Gloucestershire remain in hospital following Saturday’s accident near the Swiss border.

The pupils were travelling to Dora Baltea in Italy for a week’s camping trip when their vehicle left the A39 motorway at Lons-lesaunier in France’s eastern Jura region.

The driver, 51, reportedly told investigators he lost control while looking for his sunglasses but authorities believe he may have fallen asleep at the wheel.

Local prosecutor Jean-luc Lennon told broadcaster France 3 he did not find the driver’s explanation very convincing as it did not fit with the circumstances of the crash.

He has been released from questioning and is expected to be charged in relation to the crash, according to the channel. Two students, one of them in a life-threatening condition, were airlifted to hospital from the site of the crash at around 11am.