The investigation into the accident which claimed the lives of four high school students who fell by car into a lake in the Jura on January 19 was closed.

The five young people present in the vehicle, aged 15 to 18, were educated at the Lycée de Champagnole, a town in the Jura region located about twenty kilometers from the scene of the accident.

"The investigations are complete" and "no legal action will be taken", the investigation establishing that "this accident presented a character of force majeure, that is to say external, unforeseeable and irresistible circumstances, excluding that a criminal misconduct can be characterized, “said the prosecutor of Lons-le-Saunier on Thursday.

Lionel Pascal in a statement.

A video surveillance recording made it possible to establish that “a few meters before the accident, the vehicle was traveling at a speed adapted to what appeared to be the state of the roadway”.

And the toxicological examinations showed that "the driver had not consumed any product likely to affect her alertness or her driving abilities", he specified.

A large layer of ice

The gendarmerie investigation showed that "the loss of control of the vehicle was attributable to the presence of a large layer of ice covering the entire roadway - which remained sheltered from the sun all day -, without however the presence of this ice could not have been detected by the driver or the other occupants of the car”, according to the magistrate.

"The loss of grip of the vehicle was irrecoverable despite the low speed," he said.

The car, driven by an 18-year-old woman, had slipped on the road before overturning on a slope and falling upside down into Lake Chalain.

One of the five occupants had managed to get out of the car.

He had swum about a meter to reach the shore and warn the emergency services, the only survivor of this tragedy which had aroused great emotion.

"The other occupants, probably stunned and / or disoriented by the shock and the overturning of the vehicle succumbed to a dazzling hypothermia resulting in their drowning", according to the prosecutor.

Company

Accident in the Jura: After the death of four high school students, the prosecutor concludes that the driver was not at fault

Four high school students die in their car that fell into a lake in the Jura

  • Miscellaneous facts

  • Strasbourg

  • Road accident

  • Franche-Comte

  • Great East