Four and a half years after the tragedy of Millas, the date of the trial of this accident in which six college students had lost their lives, is fixed. It will take place at the Marseille Criminal Court, from September 19, and should last three weeks. 130 civil parties will be represented, including SNCF.
On December 14, 2017, a bus with many college students on board was hit by a TER at the level crossing in Millas, a town in the Pyrénées-Orientales located about twenty kilometers from Perpignan. Six of them had lost their lives and seventeen others had been injured.
The trial in Marseille, broadcast live in Perpignan
The driver of the bus is prosecuted for manslaughter. Since the start of the investigation, she claims that the barriers were not lowered when she entered the level crossing. However, according to a report by the Bureau of Investigation of Land Transport Accidents issued in May 2019, “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”.
The relatives of the victims will be accompanied by psychologists in Marseille and Perpignan. The trial will be broadcast live in a room in Perpignan, as the Keeper of the Seals Eric Dupond-Moretti had promised.