It is still not clear how the serious bus accident in Venice came about. However, the video from a surveillance camera provides initial clues.
The look at the tragedy lasts 34 seconds. That’s how long the video from a street surveillance camera published today shows how the accident in Mestre happened. You can see the ill-fated bus driving in the right lane at a moderate speed. For a few seconds he is obscured by a vehicle in the next lane – then you can see how the bus plunges to the right into the depths, almost as if in slow motion.
For regional president Luca Zaia, the recordings make previous assumptions seem plausible. “Everything points to the driver being unwell,” he said. “Nevertheless, it is important to still use the subjunctive.”
No other vehicle involved
The public prosecutor’s office is pushing ahead with its investigation, also on the basis of the new images. In addition, the so-called black box of the bus was seized. The video released today shows that no other vehicle was involved in the accident. And that the ill-fated bus is not heading towards the edge of the road at a large angle, but rather seems to be tearing the side of the guardrail open.
According to the Italian authorities, 21 people died in the accident. They were on their way back to their campsite after a day’s visit to Venice. 15 people survived the accident, some seriously injured. Five to six of the survivors were still in mortal danger, Zaia said.
Also a German fatality
In the afternoon, the regional president of Veneto visited the hospital in Mestre, where some of the injured are being treated. The outcome of the accident is shocking, said Zaia. “Among the 15 injured are two siblings, aged three and 13, who are in the hospital in Treviso. Their mother and their partner have died. It is a real tragedy.”
According to Zaia, the fatalities included a one-year-old child and a 14-year-old girl. A person from Germany also died in the accident, the Italian authorities said. The Foreign Office has so far only confirmed that there were Germans on board the bus that crashed. It is said from Berlin that they do not want to provide any further information at the moment.
Modern bus, only registered in 2022
The investigators in Venice had difficulty identifying all the victims that afternoon – the force of the impact from a height of ten to 15 meters and the fire that subsequently broke out in the bus were said to be terrible.
It is now clear that the accident bus was a type of shuttle. He took guests from a campsite in Marghera, a suburb of Venice, to the center of the lagoon city and back for day visits. A very modern bus was obviously used, which is said to have only been registered last year. According to various reports, it was a hybrid or purely electric bus.
Modernizations been planned for a long time
Venice’s traffic assessor Renato Boraso shook his head at the discussions emerging today about whether the guardrails at the scene of the accident may have been too low and too weak – and pointed out that the bus that was involved in the accident weighed around 13 tons: “Not even if it was three or “If there had been quadruple guard rails, it would have withstood the impact of such a heavy vehicle.”
Venice’s traffic manager admitted, however, that modernizations had been planned for a long time on the busy bridge. The safety devices at the edges of the road should obviously also be improved.