Bus left submerged in River Seine as trainee driver crashes with passengers onboard

A trainee French bus driver crashed in Paris early Thursday — sending her and her passengers into the River Seine, where the bus ended up submerged.

The bus, carrying three passengers, had just left a station around 9:30 a.m. in the Juvisy-sur-Orge region of the French capital when it hit a parked car and veered into the water, dragging the vehicle with it.

Astonishing images showed the bus submerged with a blue car floating nearby.

Bystanders rushed to pull the four people from the river as emergency crews responded with 16 fire trucks, 34 firefighters, 60 police officers and river rescue teams.

“I realized something was happening when I heard screams and I looked out the window and saw people in the water, three people who were swimming,” a witness who gave her name as Natasha told local media, according to the Telegraph.

She said she threw a lifebuoy to a young woman.

“The person grabbed it and managed to get on my terrace. She was in shock and wasn’t coherent … it was really remarkable,” she said.

Rowing coach Doriane Ledain said she saw the bus fall into the river and rushed to help.

“Two women clung to my boat. They were in shock and certainly could not swim,” she said. “They were out of strength. They weren’t talking anymore.”

“They were very lucky,” rescuer Merlin Sacotte said, adding that if help had arrived minutes later, “We wouldn’t have seen the accident and wouldn’t have been able to intervene.”

Mayor Lamia Bensarsa Reda said all four people onboard were safe.

“It was more of a scare than anything serious, but a huge shock that must give us all pause for thought,” she said on Facebook, according to the Telegraph.

“We are doing everything we can to secure the quays.”

Last July, the Seine was reopened for public swimming for the first time in more than a century, with designated areas including newly built decks near the Eiffel Tower.