Brake failure blamed for Alps crash that killed and injured Britons

Tuseday's coach crash that killed the driver and seriously injured three British nationals in the French Alps was probably due to failed brakes, the head of the inquiry into the accident said Wednesday.

Reuters/Emmanuel Foudrot

“It’s very probably a question of the brakes,” Grenoble public prosecutor Jean-Yves Coquillat told the AFP news agency.

The coach, carrying British staff who had been working at the Alpe d'Huez resort, crashed on a sinewy mountain road and burst into flames.

UK travel organisation Abta said the passengers were on their way home after working for Brighton-based ski company, Skibound, at Alpe d'Huez and other resorts, SkyNews reports.

The seriously injured were flown to two different hospitals by helicopter, while dozens of firefighters and police were dispatched to the scene.

The driver, who was also British, has died.

French Transport Minister Frédéric Cuvillier visited the injured on Tuesday evening.

He paid tribute to the “exceptional courage” of the driver, who had warned the passengers that he had lost control, thus “saving several lives”, according to Cuvillier.

Twenty three passengers escaped unharmed, many jumping out of windows as the coach burned.

There have been several deadly coach crashes on the winding roads of the Alps in recent years.