French road pile-up kills eight

France's motorways are notorious for accidents

A motorway accident near Bordeaux in south-western France has left at least eight people dead and 46 injured, the authorities in the Gironde region say.

The A63 was closed after the pile-up near the town of Belin-Beliet, which involved a Spanish coach and 10 cars.

About 130 fire-fighters and 24 ambulances went to the scene after the accident at 0400 (0200GMT) on Sunday.

Reports suggest the driver of the coach had braked sharply after a van in front shed its load on to the road.

Police said that all the vehicles involved had been travelling in the same direction.

'Overloaded'

Seven of the dead were on board the Spanish coach, said the Prefect for Gironde, Alain Gehin.

The coach was carrying Spanish, Portuguese and North African passengers from Braga in northern Portugal to Paris.

Mr Gehin said the pile-up had involved the coach, an "overloaded" van and two cars, one of which had Italian number plates.

Casualty figures released initially by traffic services had put the death toll at 13, but this was later revised by the prefect.

France recently introduced measures to try to stem the rising number of traffic accidents on its busy roads.

More than 8,000 people are killed and 26,000 injured every year on French roads, making traffic accidents the primary cause of death among people below the age of 30.