A tragic bus crash in Mestre, Italy, near Venice, claimed the lives of 21 people and left 18 others injured. The bus, carrying foreign tourists, including Ukrainians, plunged from an elevated street end route to a camping site near Marghera. Firefighters and emergency responders worked tirelessly to rescue survivors and extinguish the flames.
The Venice Mayor, Luigi Brugnaro, described the crash scene as “apocalyptic” and declared a state of mourning. Among the injured, four were in serious condition, and two of the victims were children.
The injured were transported to various hospitals in the region. The bus fell a short distance before crashing near Mestre’s railway tracks, where it caught fire.
The cause of the accident remained unclear, with the Veneto region governor, Luca Zaia, expressing bewilderment over the incident. Despite the tragedy, he noted that the bus was new and electric, and the street was not considered particularly problematic.
Italy has witnessed previous tragic bus accidents, such as the 2017 crash near Verona that claimed the lives of 16 Hungarian students and the 2013 incident near Avellino, where 40 people died when a bus plunged off a viaduct.