Three Germans are said to be among the fatalities in the bus accident in Venice that left 21 dead. This is what local authorities said. The accident sparked a debate in Italy about the state of the infrastructure.
After the serious bus accident in Venice, local authorities have reported the deaths of three Germans. Italian media reported that two brothers from Germany, aged seven and 13, were among the injured. Her parents were therefore among those killed.
Among the total of 21 victims, including a small child, were nine Ukrainians and four people from Romania as well as guests from Portugal, South Africa and Croatia, a spokesman for the mayor of Venice told the AFP news agency. The Italian driver of the bus also died.
Many Seriously injured
According to regional authorities, 15 people were injured in the accident. Ten of them are apparently still in the intensive care unit. Many relatives of the victims have arrived in Venice to see the injured or identify the dead.
The cause of the accident was initially unclear. At the moment, the main assumption is that the bus driver developed health problems during the journey, said regional president Luca Zaia. Transport Minister Matteo Salvini also mentioned this assumption. In order to reconstruct the course of the accident, investigators evaluated images from surveillance cameras.
“Tragedy with announcement”
The accident sparked a debate in Italy about dilapidated infrastructure. According to the Venice Fire Department, the bus fell from a bridge over a railway line on Tuesday evening. The vehicle apparently caught fire after the fall. At the time of the accident around 7:30 p.m., the bus was on the way back from the historic center of Venice to a campsite.
The head of an association of traffic accident victims, Domenico Musicco, said it was “a tragedy with notice.” The affected road should actually have been modernized to rule out a bus crash.
The operator of the vehicle involved in the accident, Massimo Fiorese, emphasized to the Italian news agency Ansa that the road was only secured by “a simple railing”. “The magnitude was terrible because he fell from a height of more than ten meters,” said Venice fire chief Mauro Luongo.
The road towards the abyss was only secured by a rusty railing.
Electric bus batteries burn
What made matters worse was that it was an electric bus and its batteries had caught fire. An AFP photographer observed that emergency services first had to wait for the bus’s battery to cool down on the wrecked bus lying on the roof. Venice Mayor Luigi Brugnaro spoke of an “apocalyptic scene” on the online network Facebook.
Zaia said a three-day mourning period would be declared because of the “huge tragedy.” Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni expressed “her deepest condolences.” Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock also expressed her condolences to the victims and their relatives.