Two French teenagers and their driver remained hospitalized Monday after a weekend crash that claimed two lives when the driver fell asleep on a tour through the Mojave Desert, officials said. One youth was in a coma, AP reported. The Saturday morning crash remained under investigation, but the California Highway Patrol planned to submit its report to prosecutors this week, Capt. Tim Lepper said. The Inyo County district attorney's office will decide whether to file criminal charges. The rented van was in a three-vehicle convey carrying about 20 people on State Route 190 in Death Valley National Park when the driver fell asleep. The van ran off the road, and the driver woke but overcorrected and the vehicle rolled over, the CHP reported. Only one passenger was wearing a seat belt, and at least three people were flung out, authorities said. The crash killed Leah Baldaccini, 17, and Orane Pozzo Di Borgo, 16, both from the Marseille area of France. Five others were hurt. Thibault Clement Yves Hamel, 15, of Marseilles, had major head injuries and was in a medically induced coma, Lepper said. He was in critical condition Monday, said Danita Cohen, spokeswoman at University Medical Center in Las Vegas. The driver, Nassera Soudani, 31, of the Paris suburb of Levallois-Perret, was listed in serious condition. Lepper said she had a broken jaw, fractured sternum and bruising to her right eye. Soudani is «extremely remorseful and heartbroken about what happened» and has cooperated with authorities, Lepper said. Claire Emmanuelle Jacquot, 17, of Saint-Martin-de-Crau, was listed in good condition with a punctured lung. Another 17-year-old, Pauline Ollivier of Everly, was treated for a broken clavicle and bruises and released Sunday, authorities said. Sarah Dalila Bouchenafer, 17, of Mas-Thibert, was treated for minor cuts and scrapes. She was released on Saturday, said Ashlee Seymour, spokeswoman for Sunset Hospital & Medical Center in Las Vegas. The victims were on a trip organized by a group based south of Paris called Cousins d'Amerique, France's Foreign Ministry said. Death Valley National Park, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) west of Las Vegas, is extremely popular with foreign tourists, Lepper said. «This time of year they are swamped with European passengers,» he said.
