The Italian authorities reported this Wednesday, October 4, that they opened an investigation to determine the causes of the accident of a bus transporting citizens of different nationalities, near Venice, which occurred a day earlier. At least 21 people were killed, including two children, and 18 were injured.
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The tragic accident in Venice that mourns families of different nationalities took place when the bus in which they were traveling crashed into the railing of a road, fell from a height of 15 meters and caught fire.
At least 21 people died, including a baby, a 12-year-old boy and four Ukrainian citizens, the authorities confirmed. Another 18 people were injured, several in serious condition, according to Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi.
Among the injured are German, French, Croatian, Spanish and Austrian citizens.reported the Italian news agency Adnkronos.
The events occurred on the night of Tuesday, October 3, when the group of people returned to a nearby camp after spending a day in the tourist city.
At least 21 people have died and 18 others injured after a bus plunged off a bridge in Venice.
The vehicle was traveling from Venice to Marghera when the accident took place.
Italian authorities are investigating what caused the ‘apocalyptic’ crash pic.twitter.com/i1IAMSADkg
— CGTN Europe (@CGTNEurope) October 4, 2023
The accident forced the suspension of the train service on the line that connects Mestre with Venice.
The prefect of the city, Michele Di Bari, stated this Wednesday that the city council and the regional government of Veneto requested to declare three days of mourning.
Both Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and politicians from across Europe expressed their condolences.
“Our thoughts are with the Italian people, the families and loved ones of the victims of the terrible tragedy in Venice,” said French President Emmanuel Macron through platform X.
Some hypotheses point to a driver’s “illness”
In the last few hours, the authorities reported that they are carrying out an investigation into multiple homicides, in which they are evaluating technical elements, security cameras and testimonies to try to clarify what happened.
However, Luca Zaia, president of the Veneto region, assured that everything would point to a scenario in which the driver would have become ill, without explaining whether it was a sudden impact on his health.
“One of the hypotheses is that the driver – who died in the accident – felt bad,” agreed the Minister of Transport, Matteo Salvini. “The road was a straight line without works, without interruptions,” he added.
For his part, the director of the company that operated the vehicle, Massimo Fiorese, told the newspaper ‘Corriere della Sera’ that he saw video images of the moments prior to the accident and also pointed to possible health conditions of the driver as a reason for what happened. occurred.
“I think the driver had an illness, because otherwise I can’t explain it,” Fiorese said, adding that the driver had started his shift less than two hours before the accident.
The bus, an electric vehicle, was approximately a year old.
The results of the autopsy of the man who was driving are still awaited, which will be crucial to support or rule out that hypothesis, said Venice’s chief prosecutor, Bruno Cerchi, in a press conference.
The prosecutor also added that a gas leak from lithium batteries was recorded, which is being investigated.
Meanwhile, ‘Rai News 24’, the Italian public television channel, reported that at the site of the accident they found signs of braking before falling from the elevated road.
Firefighters worked until dawn on October 4 to remove debris from the site. Subsequently, traffic slowly began to return to normal around the place where the accident occurred.
With Reuters, AP and local media
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