Venice, Italy – Flags in the picturesque city of Venice flew at half-mast on a somber Wednesday following a horrific accident that unfolded when a bus careened off an overpass and was engulfed in flames, resulting in the tragic loss of 21 lives, including a one-year-old child.
Eyewitnesses described the chilling scene as the bus flipped upside down, plummeting over 10 meters (32 feet) from the overpass to the railway tracks below. Venice’s fire brigade commander, Mauro Luongo, characterized the impact as “terrible.”
The victims, primarily tourists who had returned from Venice’s historic center to a nearby camping site on Tuesday evening, met a grim fate. Fifteen others sustained injuries in what Venice Mayor Luigi Brugnaro aptly described as “an apocalyptic scene.”
Firefighters initially reported the bus as electric, though the Italian interior minister had earlier indicated it ran on methane. The arduous recovery operation to retrieve bodies from the charred remnants of the bus continued through the night before the vehicle was eventually removed from the scene.
Luongo explained, “Among the difficulties was the fact that the bus was electric, so it had batteries. Unfortunately, they caught fire on impact, which prolonged the rescue efforts.”
Luca Zaia, the governor of the Venice region, confirmed the official death toll of 21, which included citizens of Ukraine, Germany, Croatia, France, and the Italian driver. Five of the 15 injured individuals remain in critical condition, with some still awaiting identification.
The catastrophic incident transpired as the bus veered off an overpass connecting the mainland districts of Mestre and Marghera, straddling a railway line. Governor Zaia announced that flags on official buildings in the region would be lowered to half-mast in acknowledgment of this “tragedy of enormous proportions.”
While the investigation is ongoing, the primary hypothesis suggests that the bus driver may have suffered a medical emergency. Surveillance camera footage from the area is currently under scrutiny as part of the inquiry.
Leaders from around the world expressed their condolences in the wake of this heart-wrenching event. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni extended her “profound condolences” and remained in close contact with Mayor Luigi Brugnaro and Transport Minister Matteo Salvini. French President Emmanuel Macron and European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen also offered their sympathies.
In this dark hour, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock expressed her deep sorrow, recalling a similar bus tragedy in July 2018 when a bus carrying holidaymakers fell from a viaduct near Naples, claiming the lives of 40 people.
