A set of coaches waiting to leave a service station

Eleven people remain in hospital today in Northern France after a coach crash involving 29 British schoolchildren and 13 adult supervisors on Sunday.

A teacher has died in the accident which occured near Reims when the coach was returning back from a ski trip in Northern France.

Six people are said to be seriously injured although their conditions are not described as life threatening according to the crash investiogator despite a 13 year old being transferred to the Necker childrens hospital in Paris where she has undergone surgery.

Inital tests have been performed and the reports have come back from the labs on the coach driver which has shown negative for being under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Local police are currently investigating if he could have possibly been asleep at the wheel of the coach which ended up at the bottom of an embankment on the A26 at Cholns-en-Chapagne.

Tributes and respects are being paid today to Peter Rippington, a 59 year old head of mathmatics at Alvechurch middle school in Worcestershire which is open today and offering support to all children as they walk through the main entrances to the buildings.

The family commented on the 59 year old man as "a wonderful husband, father, son, brother, son-in-law, brother-in-law, uncle, friend and teacher" and his pupils commented saying "Dear Mr Rip, you will be truly missed. You were a one-of-a-kind teacher and you can never be replaced. You were funny and kind and always made everyone's day... We will love and miss you forever and always!"

A total of 27 people were taken to two local hospitals following the crash, with 22 of those said to have minor injuries.

Interski Snowsport School, the company that arranged the trip, said it was "saddened and distressed". In a statement, it offered its condolences to Rippington's family and friends and sympathy to those injured and others involved in the incident.

Monday February 20^th 2012
The Onlines