Speed ​​responsible for seven deaths

Five of the victims were 23 years old or younger, the other two were 85 and 90 years old.

Seven people were killed in a car accident on a country road in central France on Tuesday evening (June 18). Five victims aged between 17 and 19 were in one vehicle, and a couple aged between 85 and 90 were in another. Investigators believe speed was the cause.

The accident occurred on June 18, shortly before 7 p.m., on the RD 921 road near Bailleau-le-Pin in Eure-et-Loire.

A third vehicle, in which two people aged 21 and 23 were sitting, was also hit after an initial collision. Both people were injured, one of them seriously.

Read more: Driving in France: Why are the roads deadlier than in the UK?

“Little chance of survival”

“The first vehicle, heading towards Illiers-Combray – Chartres and carrying the five young people, collided with an oncoming vehicle carrying an elderly couple,” announced Chartres prosecutor Frédéric Blanc today (June 19).

The couple in the second car were later pronounced dead at the scene of the accident.

“The first vehicle then collided with a third vehicle, which was also in the opposite lane. The first vehicle caught fire. The five occupants died in the fire,” said Mr Blanc.

The mayor of Bailleau-le-Pin, Martial Lochon, said Franceinfo on Tuesday evening that it had been a “terrible accident”.

“The impact was extremely violent,” he said. “The chances of survival were extremely slim.”

The affected section of road is particularly busy and “confined by embankments on both sides,” he said.

“When such accidents happen, it is often dramatic because there is no escape. It always ends head-on.”

He said all the victims came from five different villages within 10 to 15 km

Mr Lochon said the town hall was trying to “treat the matter humanely” and “help the devastated families”.

He also praised the firefighters as “extraordinary” and the gendarmerie, “who did everything they could.”