A bus with around 40 passengers came off the high bridge, fell about 15 meters and caught fire, officials report.
More than 20 people were killed and 18 injured after a bus carrying foreign tourists plunged from a high bridge near Venice in northern Italy, plummeting about 15 meters and catching fire.
According to reports, the bus left the road at around 7:45 p.m. local time (17:45 GMT) on Tuesday evening, crashed through a barrier, fell onto power lines and caught fire.
“An apocalyptic scene, there are no words,” Venice Mayor Luigi Brugnaro said in a post on social media.
Official mourning has been declared in Venice to commemorate the victims, the mayor said.
Un’immane tragedia ha colpito questa sera la nostra comunità.
I disposto da subito il lutto cittadino, in memory delle numerose vittime che erano nell’autobus caduto.
An apocalyptic scene, no parole. pic.twitter.com/APnsQoPMkL— Luigi Brugnaro (@LuigiBrugnaro) October 3, 2023
[Unofficial translation: A huge tragedy struck our community this evening. I immediately ordered the city to mourn, in memory of the numerous victims who were on the fallen bus. An apocalyptic scene, there are no words.]
It was unclear what caused the terrible accident.
Venice city councilor Renato Boraso said the bus was carrying 40 passengers, of whom 21 died and 18 were injured.
Boraso warned that the death toll could rise as several of those injured in the crash were in hospital in critical condition.
“It is a terrible tragedy, the city is mourning,” Boraso told Sky Italia television.
Five of the victims were Ukrainians and one was German, said Venice prefect Michele Di Bari, the local Interior Ministry representative. The bus also carried passengers from France and Croatia, Italian news agency ANSA reported.
“The bus is completely crushed. “The firefighters had difficulty getting many bodies out,” Di Bari told Sky Italia television. He said two children were among the victims.
Late Tuesday evening, rescuers were still struggling to clear the wreckage of the bus to ensure no other passengers were trapped inside.
The governor of the Veneto region, Luca Zaia, told RAI state television that the cause of the accident was still unclear.
“This is a great tragedy, but it is difficult to understand how it happened,” Zaia said. “The bus was new and electric, and this road wasn’t particularly problematic.”
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni expressed her condolences and said in a statement that her government’s thoughts were with “the victims, their families and their friends.”
There have been several fatal bus accidents in Italy in recent years.
In 2017, 16 people aboard a bus carrying Hungarian students died in an accident near the northern city of Verona, while in 2013 40 people died when a bus fell from a viaduct in southern Italy.