Seven Moroccan tourists are dead and the same number severely injured after a coach they were travelling in rammed into a support pillar of a motorway overpass in central France.

The crash happend in the early hours a few kilometers from Blois. Nineteen others suffered slight injuries. The cause of the crash is as yet unknown.

The injured were taken to hospitals in Blois and nearby Orleans. As many as 200 police and other security workers have been involved in the rescue and clear up operation.

Medical reports suggest that four of the most seriously injured are in a critical condition.