on social media<\/a>.<\/p>\nA parked car also ended up in the water after the bus dragged it into the river on its way down. Photos and videos show the bus completely submerged in the river, with rescuers on top of it.<\/p>\n
It may not have been an ideal start to a new job, but nobody was hurt, according to local officials. The cause of the accident was not immediately clear.<\/p>\n
Merlin Sacotte, a 25-year-old instructor at a nearby rowing club, saw it happen.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe crash made a huge noise,\u201d he said in a phone interview on Friday, adding that the sinking took about 10 seconds. He and a colleague, Doriane Ledain, 25, who happened to be in the water on a motorboat, rushed to the scene and helped rescue three of the four people in the bus, one of whom appeared to be a supervising driver.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey were all in shock,\u201d Mr. Sacotte said.<\/p>\n
Mr. Sacotte said that those aboard the bus were able to escape quickly because the impact of the fall into the water blew out the windows.<\/p>\n
\u201cI approached two women who were leaning on each other to keep their heads above water,\u201d Ms. Ledain said. \u201cThey were being pulled under.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a post on social media<\/a>, Lamia Bensarsa Reda, the mayor of Juvisy-sur-Orge, said that the crash was \u201cmore scare than harm, but a tremendous shock.\u201d She added that barriers along the river had been replaced in March.<\/p>\nWhile the incident ended without any major injuries or damage \u2014 other than to the bus and, perhaps, the driver\u2019s ego \u2014 the rescue operation drew in 110 firefighters, police officers, divers, crane operators and other personnel, officials said.<\/p>\n
\u00cele-de-France Mobilit\u00e9s, the bus operator \u2014 which oversees public transportation in the Paris region, including more than 10,000 buses and coaches \u2014 could not immediately be reached on Friday. The trainee driver\u2019s name has not been publicly released.<\/p>\n
While the incident received significant attention, Ms. Reda said, \u201cfortunately, the story falls into the realm of the unusual rather than the tragic.\u201d<\/p>\n