Pilgrims killed in coach crash

Twenty-six Polish pilgrims died yesterday when their coach crashed off a mountain road at a notorious accident black spot in the French Alps and burst into flames, police and officials said.

A further 24 people were injured, 14 critically, when the coach smashed through a roadside barrier on the steep Laffrey gradient, some 30 kilometres from the southeastern city of Grenoble, after apparently suffering from braking problems.

The coach careered 40 metres down the slopes before coming to rest on the banks of the Romanche river. Most of the victims perished in the fire, said emergency officials, and DNA forensic experts from Paris would be needed to identify the bodies.