Beaune accident: a ceremony in tribute to the victims, 40 years after the tragedy

It is a memory that remains in all memories. 40 years ago, 53 people were killed in a catastrophic pileup in Beaune (Golden Coast). A mass was given in memory of the victims on Saturday July 30. Firefighters and relatives came to collect. Jean Yves Pallardthe brother of a disappeared, remember : “We learned from the gendarmes who came to the house. I still remember, knocking on the house saying here, ‘we would like to see Mr. and Mrs. Pallard’, my parents and they announced to them like that that my brother had died in the Beaune accident.

For all the people who lived through the tragedy, the memory is still latent in their minds. “It is the most difficult intervention of my career. To be confronted with the death of a child is not easy, with the death of two children it is not easy, but with the death of 44 children, we do not understand”remembers Philippe Rouillardformer firefighter in Beaune. Measures have since been taken. Thus, the maximum speed of buses is limited to 100 km/h, speed limiters are installed in buses and coaches will be subject to technical control. LDrivers are also subject to an alcohol test before each departure.