Spectacular accident in the city center of Carcassonne, a bus ends its journey in the fountain

This Sunday, September 29, around 8:15 a.m., a bus, while traveling on Boulevard Barbès, ran into the fountain at the Portal des Jacobins.

According to his explanations, the driver would have been dazzled by the low sun at the start of the morning, and by the time he lowered his sun visor and not knowing the road, he went straight instead of taking the bend, and therefore hit the fountain, which was empty of water: “There is no signage at this location, and I did not see that it was turning”he detailed.

The bus is a travel vehicle, and the driver was on his way to pick up Japanese clients with whom he was currently on a tour of France at their hotel, to take them to the medieval city. There were therefore no passengers at the time of the accident, and the driver was alone on board.

He explained that he had hurt his knee and stomach, but his condition did not require medical attention.

Around 9:45 a.m. this Sunday morning, a recovery company went to the scene to remove the extremely damaged vehicle. The front door was torn off, as well as the entire front underbody of the bus. Operations were to continue throughout the morning, with traffic blocked at the bus stop by the police. The fountain also suffered significant damage. This is not the first time that this type of accident has occurred: last year in November, a drunk driver went straight at the same level, a few months earlier, in March, another motorist taken the same path, and this had already been the case in November 2022.

During the accident in March 2023, Placide Arias, elected to Carcassonne town hall, explained: “It’s starting to do a lot. The City’s technical services are considering how to secure this place. We will probably soon install speed bumps or light signs. Discussions are ongoing.”