At least 21 people died and several were injured this Tuesday after a bus fell from a viaduct in Venice, northeastern Italy, announced the city’s mayor, Luigi Brugnaro.
The bus was transporting several foreigners to a campsite near Mestre, says the mayor.
“Some of the victims were foreigners, we found Ukrainian passports,” Brugnaro told Rai News 24, adding that officers are trying to free people trapped inside the bus.
A spokesperson for the City Council revealed to AFP that two children were among the dead.
“A great tragedy shook 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,” said Venice Mayor Luigi Brugnaro. , on the social network X (formerly Twitter), about the accident that occurred in the town of Mestre.
An “imminent tragedy that this will be our community” has occurred.
Suddenly I have the fight of the city, in memory of the number of people who lived on the “expired bus.”
An apocalyptic scene, non ci sono parole. pic.twitter.com/APnsQoPMkL– Luigi Brugnaro (@LuigiBrugnaro) October 3, 2023
After the accident, which occurred shortly after 7:30 p.m. local time (6:30 p.m. in Lisbon), on the Vespa pedestrian bridge, several ambulances and fire crews gathered at the scene, while train traffic between Mestre and the Saint Lucia was blocked. . , in Venice.
According to Venice firefighters, the bus “came on fire” after falling from a bridge that crosses a railway line between Mestre and Marghera, two towns in the municipality of Venice.
The Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, has already expressed her condolences to the families of the deceased, as well as 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.
The governor of the Veneto region, Luca Zaia, said on Facebook that the bus fell 15 meters and landed on a railway track.
Source: TSF
