“A great tragedy has struck our community this afternoon. I immediately ordered the city to go into mourning in memory of the numerous victims who were in the overturned bus. An apocalyptic scene, there are no words to describe it,” said the mayor of Venice, Luigi Brugnaro. , on the social network X (formerly Twitter), about the accident in the city of Mestre.
According to a municipal spokesperson quoted by AFP, at least twenty people were killed when the bus fell from a bridge. The accident caused “at least 20 deaths, including two children,” the spokesperson said.
At least twenty dead in bus crash in… #Lecturer #Italy. The vehicle fell 30 meters. Still no further information about the accident pic.twitter.com/Q7BKEKmgnL
– Globeclips (@globeclip) October 3, 2023
Firefighters said the bus caught fire after falling on a bridge connecting the neighborhoods of Mestre and Marghera.
Following the accident, which occurred shortly after 7:30 PM local time (6:30 PM in Lisbon) on the Vespa pedestrian bridge, several ambulances and fire teams gathered at the scene, while train traffic was blocked between Mestre station and Santa Lucia station. in Venice.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has already expressed her condolences to the families of the deceased and to the authorities in Venice.
‘I am in close contact with the mayor [Luigi] Brugnaro and with the minister [do Interior] Matteo Piantedosi, to follow the news of this tragedy,” said the head of the Italian government.
Source: DN
