2023-10-03 20:26:14
A bus accident in Mestre, near Venice, northern Italy, left 21 dead and at least twelve injured on Tuesday evening. About five people are still missing, Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi confirmed. A bus with several people on board came off an elevated road and fell about ten meters onto the railway tracks next to the road. This was a private bus that took tourists to a campsite in Marghera.
This was reported by the mayor of Venice, Luigi Brugnaro. The railway line between Mestre and Venice was interrupted. The bus had been rented by the operators of a campsite in Marghera for its guests. There was initially no information about the nationality of the victims.
The accident occurred shortly before 8 p.m. on the overpass of the slip road that leads from Mestre to Marghera and the A4 motorway. For reasons that remain to be clarified, the natural gas-powered bus broke through the railing, crashed and landed between a warehouse and the tracks of Mestre train station, where it caught fire. Some of the victims who were recovered were said to have been burned. The victims also include minors. Dozens of firefighters were deployed to extinguish the flames.
“A terrible tragedy struck our community this evening. I have immediately ordered a day of mourning in memory of the many victims who were on the crashed bus. We have witnessed an apocalyptic scene, there are no words,” Brugnaro wrote on Twitter (X ).
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Deputy Prime Minister Antonio Tajani expressed their condolences to the victims and their families. “I am close to the families of the victims of the accident in Mestre. I thank the police, fire brigade and medical personnel for the immediate rescue effort. I express my solidarity with the city of Venice and the municipality,” tweeted Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani. Head of State Sergio Mattarella called Mayor Brugnaro and condoled the victims’ families.
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