Newspaper claims Swiss bus driver distracted by request to play DVD film

The driver of the Swiss bus which crashed on Tuesday killing 22 children and six adults was possibly distracted by a teacher handing him a DVD film to play, according to Swiss newspaper Le Matin Dimanche. 

Reuters/Christian Hartmann

The paper quotes the father of one of the children who was seriously injured in the crash saying his daughter said one of the last things she remembers was one of the teachers going to the driver with a DVD.

Swiss prosecutor, Olivier Elsig told the ATS news agency that the “screens lit up and the children saw the menu for the film”.

He said investigators were to travel to Belgium to interview the surviving children for more insight into the tragedy.

So far, they have not ruled out technical problems with the coach or human error. But alcohol, speed and driver illness have been dismissed as the cause of the crash.

The victims included Belgian and Dutch school children aged 11-12 years old who were returning from a school skiing trip.