Bus accident in Venice: 21 dead
A bus carrying tourists flew off the bridge in Venice: 21 dead, 18 injured
The cause of the accident is not yet clear. According to the information provided by the authorities, the vehicle caught fire as it fell from approximately 15 meters onto the power lines.
At least 21 people, including two children, died and 18 people were injured in the bus accident that occurred in Venice, Italy. Firefighters and other emergency responders worked throughout the night to remove bodies and extinguish the flames.
Venice Mayor Luigi Brugnaro described the accident scene as “apocalyptic” on his social media account and declared mourning in the city.
It was reported that the accident occurred while the bus carrying foreign tourists was transporting from the historical center of the city to a camping area in Marghera.
It is stated that there were Ukrainians, Germans, French and Croatians among the tourists on the bus.
The fire aggravated the situation
The fire that broke out as a result of the bus collapsing into power lines, which broke down the barriers and fell near the train tracks while passing over the bridge in Mestre, which is only 9 kilometers away from the city center, further aggravated the situation of the accident.
Mauro Luongo, commander of the Venice fire brigade, said: “The people on the bus found themselves engulfed in flames. The scene we encountered was terrible. It took about an hour to remove some of the bodies.” he said.
The cause of the accident is not yet clear. According to the information provided by the authorities, the vehicle caught fire as it fell from approximately 15 meters onto the power lines.
The cause of the accident is unknown
Venice city council member Renato Boraso said that the possibility that the 40-year-old Italian driver, who was among the dead, might have been ill before the accident was considered. The official also informed that four of the injured were in serious condition.
Luca Zaia, governor of the Veneto region, also told the press that the cause of the accident was still unclear and said, “The bus was new and electric and that street was not particularly problematic. This is a significant tragedy, but it is difficult to understand how it happened.”
Venice governor Michele Di Bari reported that, apart from the Italian driver, five of the dead were Ukrainians and one was German.
He added that two of the dead were children. The injured were transferred to five different hospitals in the region.
Italy has seen a number of fatal bus accidents in recent years. In 2017, 16 people traveling on a bus carrying Hungarian students died in an accident near the northern city of Verona, and in 2013, 40 people died when a bus fell off a viaduct in Avelino, southern Italy.
