As several people were crossing at a pedestrian crossing in front of the Vernay school in Annecy, a bus driver lost control of his vehicle and crashed into a sidewalk where several children were standing. A 7-year-old child died in the accident.
A terrible accident occurred on Tuesday, March 17, 2026, in Haute-Savoie . Around 8:45 a.m., the driver of a bus belonging to Sibra, the public transport authority for the greater Annecy area, lost control of his vehicle after suffering a medical episode in front of the Vernay school . While the bus came to a stop against a low wall near the Cran-Gevrier sports complex, the driver, in his sixties, also struck a sidewalk on which several people, including children, were standing as he veered off course .
“A mother started screaming ,” a witness told our colleagues at Ici Pays de Savoie, explaining that “the bus veered onto the sidewalk” without anyone understanding “what was happening . ” ” Some children narrowly avoided the bus, but apparently one of them was trapped underneath , “ she added to Ici Pays de Savoie, noting that a 7-year-old child died in the accident . While the Annecy public prosecutor, Line Bonnet, confirmed that there were no other casualties, a significant security presence was deployed by firefighters in front of the school, where the children who had been there before the accident remained confined with the staff.
“It was shocking for us, for the children, for everyone.”
According to this young mother who witnessed the accident , after the impact, “people tried to lift the bus . ” ” There were maybe 50 of us around the bus trying to lift it; it was shocking for us, for the children, for everyone, “ she confided, “with a knot in her stomach . ” “It could have been any one of our children. I take my son every morning; I cross the road every day ,” she concluded. Our colleagues at Ici Pays de Savoie also reported that the accident site is currently closed to the public, and that people are advised to avoid the area. No judicial investigation has been opened yet.