More than 40 pensioners on a day trip have been killed after their bus crashed with a truck on a country road in south-western France.

The collision happened near Puisseguin in the Gironde wine region, east of Bordeaux, after the bus had set off from a nearby town. The truck driver also died.

The French president said he was "plunged into sadness by the tragedy".

This is the worst French road disaster since one in 1982 when 52 people died.

The crash happened at around 07:30 local time (05:30 GMT).

The bus was involved in a head-on collision with the timber truck on what local residents described as a notoriously dangerous bend in the road close to Puisseguin.

Both vehicles quickly caught fire.

At least 41 people on the bus and the driver of the lorry died in the blaze. Nine people were injured, four seriously, according to the government.