The driver, Nadine Oliveira, is accused of having “unintentionally” caused the death of the six teenagers and injuries to eight others.
The driver of the school transport coach who collided with a train at a level crossing located in Millas (Pyrénées-Orientales), on December 14, 2017, causing the death of six schoolchildren, will be tried for “manslaughter“, according to a judicial source.
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The driver, Nadine Oliveira, is accused of having caused “involuntarily“the death of the six teenagers and the injuries to eight others”by imprudence, inattention, clumsiness, negligence or breach of an obligation of prudence, or safety…in this case by not paying attention to the closed nature of the level crossing“. The 52-year-old driver allegedly forced “the closed half-barrier of said level crossing as a regional express train arrived“, according to the investigators. The very violent collision between the school bus and a TER had left six dead and several seriously injured – teenagers – on December 14, 2017. In shock, the bus had been cut in two.
A report by the Land Transport Accident Investigation Bureau (BEA-TT) issued in May 2019 concluded that “the direct cause of this accident is the failure of the coach to stop at the level crossing despite the flashing red lights and the barrier which imposed it», Believing that the driver of the bus had not perceived that the level crossing was closing due in particular to an unfavorable configuration of the premises. The driver said for her part:not having seen a barrier“nor”felt no impactbetween his vehicle and the barrier, according to this report.
An audience of “put together“, intended to determine the dates and the organization of the trial, is scheduled for April 29 at the judicial court of Marseille, which houses the pole of collective accidents. The trial is expected to take place in the fall, according to a judicial source.