He was driving under the influence of drugs. The driver of the bus that crashed on Sunday, December 1 in Porté-Puymorens (Pyrénées-Orientales), causing two deaths and several injuries, was tested positive for traces of cocaine, indicted and imprisoned, the Marseille prosecutor’s office said on Saturday . The collective accidents center, with interregional competence, is responsible for the investigation.
Six more victims hospitalized in France
The accident occurred on a mountain road at an altitude of more than 1,600 meters. In addition to the driver, a Spaniard, the coach carried 48 passengers, mainly Spaniards and Colombians residing in Spain, who were on a day trip between Barcelona and Pas de la Casa, a town in Andorra famous for its shops. zero-rated products. He was on his way home when the accident happened.
“Of all the victims, 32 were recorded as having been hospitalized in Spain and 9 in France. Among the people hospitalized in France, 6 are still hospitalized to this day,” said the prosecution. The Colombian embassy in France identified the two deceased victims at the beginning of the week as nationals of this country, living in Spain.
Positive for cocaine and without technical inspection
The investigation, entrusted to the gendarmerie, made it possible to establish “that the bus, usually used by the driver, had been kept in circulation despite the absence of compulsory technical inspection and that its tachograph, a device intended to record the speed and driving times, was disabled,” according to the prosecutor’s press release. “Moreover, the toxicological analysis of blood samples taken from (the driver) proved positive for benzoylecgonine (BZE), the main metabolite of cocaine, which allows us to assume the use of cocaine by the driver in a time close to the accident,” continues the prosecution.
The driver, aged 50, was presented to an investigating judge and indicted for “involuntary homicide and involuntary injury (…) by a driver, aggravated by the deliberate violation of a particular obligation of prudence or security and by the use of narcotics”, as well as for “endangering the lives of others”. He was placed in pre-trial detention.
