France bus crash survivor: 'The fire spread like lightning, there was nothing we could do'

Jean-Claude Leonardet was one of only eight people to escape the disaster in Puisseguin

Jean-Claude Leonardet spoke to France 2 television (France 2)

A survivor of the French bus crash that killed 43 people has told how he desperately tried to save his friends before being thrown back as “everything exploded” into flames.

Jean-Claude Leonardet was among the members of a senior citizens’ club from Petit-Palais who were minutes into a day trip near Bordeaux when their coach collided with a lorry.

Mr Leonardet, 73, said he was talking with his wife Josette as they sat in the middle of the bus when they felt the impact.

In an interview with Le Parisien, he said the fire started immediately and spread “like lightning”, filling the bus with smoke and starting to melt its plastic interior within second.

He managed to undo his and his wife’s seatbelts and they ran out of the fire exit in the middle of the bus, unaware that they were among only eight people to escape.

Realising that his friends were still trapped, Mr Leonardet and a driver who had stopped at the scene to try and help went back to rescue them.

“We returned to pull out two people who fell on the steps and could not get out,” Mr Leonardet told Le Parisien. “I do not know how I did it but I it felt like my strength was increased tenfold.

“But we could not go back because the fire and smoke was engulfing everything. Everything exploded: the tires, the windows…there was nothing we could do.”

Rescuers are pictured in Puisseguin

The grandfather suffered second-degree burns to his face and ear and was airlifted to hospital for treatment with his wife.

The couple had been in the Petit-Palais club for a decade and counted their fellow members among their closest friends after years of meals, excursions, charity events and meetings.

Initial investigations suggested that the lorry lost control as it rounded a bend in Puisseguin, crossing the carriageway into the bus’ path, but Mr Leonardet does not blame anyone for the disaster.

“This won’t stop me getting on a bus,” he told France 2 television. “We can’t blame anyone, it was bad luck, that’s all.”

Two people were still in a critical condition in hospital last night and two more were in a serious condition.

Meanwhile, forensic experts are continuing to identify the bodies of the victims at the scene, estimating that the process could take three weeks.

The lorry driver, named as 30-year-old Cyril Alexander, and his three-year-son were among the dead, although the bus driver survived after using the final seconds before the fire to open emergency exits.

President François Hollande and the Prime Minister were among those speaking of their sorrow over the crash, which was France’s worst road accident since 1982.