Coach crash kills 26 Polish pilgrims who were visiting a holy site in French Alps

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Another 14 were seriously injured as it crashed into a river bank and burst into flames.

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Wreckage: The remains of the bus which was transporting Polish pilgrims from a holy site in the French Alps

Shocked rescuers could only watch as some victims burned to death in the wreckage.

There were conflicting reports last night about how many people were on board.

All the pilgrims were Poles on a two-week tour of holy sites in France, Spain and Portugal. Three were said to be children and there were also three priests on board.

Police said the coach failed to negotiate a 90-degree bend on a steep section near the village of Vizille, close to Grenoble.

Coaches have been banned from the five-mile stretch of road - unless they have a special permit - since a similar accident in the 1970s. The Polish coach, from Szczecin, had no such permit.

The pilgrims were returning from the shrine of Notre-Damedela-Salette, 25 miles south of Grenoble.

The bus - with 51 people on board, including the driver - plowed through a barrier and plunged about 20 meters (65 feet) onto the banks of the La Romanche River.

Residents of Notre-Dame-de-Mesage, a town near the site, said the bus missed a 90-degree bend in the steep mountain road. They said the bus burst into flames and was destroyed in the blaze.

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Accident spot: Where the bus left the road

Footage showed charred remains of the bus, with pieces strewn across the river bank.

Victims were evacuated by helicopter to hospitals in Grenoble, and others with light injuries were being treated in a field nearby.

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Crash: Rescuers' red vehicles are near the bridge where the bus crashed

A handful of missing passengers may have been thrown out of the bus and into the river, firefighters said. Crews were searching the river by helicopter and boat.

The pilgrims, many of them elderly, were returning from the shrine of Notre-Dame-de-la-Salette, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) south of Grenoble.

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Rescuers carry a body out of the wreckage

Though it rained heavily on Saturday night, weather in the region was warm and sunny on at the time of the crash and the road was dry.

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Tragic: French firemen carry a body on a stretcher past a line of bodies brought out of the wreckage

French Prime Minister Francois Fillon is to visit the crash site.