Accident on the Rampe de Laffrey (1973)
The accident on the Rampe de Laffrey on July 18, 1973, remains, as of 2017[update], the worst to ever have occurred along that stretch of roadway, among the worst in France.[1] A bus was carrying Belgian pilgrims from Braine-le-Comte returning from a visit to the shrine of Our Lady of La Salette; it missed a curve at the base of the road, near its intersection with the bridge over the Romanche, and overturned. Forty-three people were killed and six injured in the resulting crash.[1][2] After the crash the mayor of Laffrey condemned the route as being particularly dangerous, as it had already claimed over one hundred lives over the previous quarter-century.[3]
The accident is sometimes referred to as the accident de Vizille because it occurred very close to the entrance of the town of that name; the crash site, however, is actually located within the boundaries of the commune of Notre-Dame-de-Mésage. Today a memorial to the victims stands at the site of the accident; it claims the number of dead as forty-five.[citation needed]
References
- ^ a b "Le Journal Chretien". Archived from the original on 12 June 2008. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
- ^ Some references give other numbers of injured; all agree on the number of dead.
- ^ Le Dauphiné Libéré, July 23, 1973
45°02′11″N 5°46′01″E / 45.0363°N 5.767°E
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