- Venice bus crash victims identified.
- Bus fell from bridge, fire.
- 21 dead, many injured.
Italian authorities are still attempting to identify all 21 victims of the fatal bus accident in Venice on Tuesday.
The electric bus smashed through a bridge barrier and fell nearly 15 metres (50 feet) in the mainland municipality of Mestre before catching fire.
DNA samples are being used to corroborate the identities of those who were not carrying personal documents, prosecutor Bruno Cherchi said.
According to officials, three minors, including a baby, were among the deceased.
The bus transported 39 visitors from Venice’s city centre to a campground. Wednesday evening, relatives from other countries began arriving in Italy to identify the deceased.
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The mayor, Luigi Brugnaro, stated that a major tragedy had occurred. On social media, he stated, “There are no words for this apocalyptic scene.”
CCTV footage depicted the vehicle passing another bus before leaving the roadway.
One rescuer described a “tragic event involving young people, if not very young people, with the exception of a few adults.”
Among those slain were nine Ukrainians, three Germans, four Romanians, two Portuguese, a South African, and an Italian driver, according to a statement from the mayor of Venice.
Officials report that fifteen people were injured, five of them critically, including Ukrainians, Austrians, Spaniards, and other foreign tourists.
According to the local governor, two 16-year-olds and two younger minors were among the injured.
Treviso hospital treated two German siblings, ages 7 and 13, for bone fractures. The accident claimed the lives of their parents, and the brothers were receiving counselling.
A young Croatian woman on her honeymoon also perished, according to the Ansa news agency. Her spouse of approximately three weeks was hospitalised.
According to Chiara Berti, the director of medicine at the Angelo di Mestre hospital, a number of survivors were seeking their loved ones. “There were entire families, including grandparents, grandchildren, and spouses.”
As of Wednesday afternoon, only three or four survivors had been able to speak with investigators, according to the prosecutor of Venice, Bruno Cherchi.
After the catastrophe, the city’s authorities have declared three days of mourning.
Tuesday evening at approximately 19:45 (17:45 GMT), the bus collided. The local company rented it to take tourists from Venice’s historic quarter to a campground in Marghera, on the mainland.
The prosecutor added that witnesses saw the bus scrape along the guardrail on the viaduct for 50 metres before falling to the ground.
The bus company emphasised that the 13-ton vehicle was electric, contradicting earlier reports that it ran on methane gas as well. Mauro Longo, commander of the fire brigade, stated on the Il Gazzettino website that the bus’s batteries took fire, making it difficult to remove the vehicle.
Witnesses reported hearing screams, but the flames were too intense to reach the victims.
A Gambian employee and his flatmate were among the first to arrive at the site. He described how he had rescued three or four persons, including a young girl, from the bus.
Boubacar Touré and Nigerian Odion Eboigbe hurried to the scene after hearing a loud crash outside their flat.
“We ran down to the spot where the bus was on fire, and I heard a woman screaming, ‘My baby, my baby,'” Boubacar told.
“I was able to pull her through the window and then pull her son, who was severely burned but still alive, out of the house.”
According to Boubacar, the fire was so intense that fire extinguishers had little effect.
Why the bus exited the flyover on a downhill portion and hit a railing and metal barrier is unknown. The police are examining footage from nearby security cameras.
Alberto Rizzotto, the 40-year-old driver, had worked for the bus company for seven years, and there was no indication on the road that he had attempted to decelerate prior to the collision.
In his most recent Facebook post, he stated that he operated a “shuttle to Venice.”
Luca Zaia, the leader of the Veneto region, stated that “everything points” to the driver falling ill in the moments preceding the loss of control of the bus. He added that it was prudent not to speculate about the accident’s causes.
La Linea bus company manager Massimo Fiorese said the bus was under a year old and the driver was experienced.
“There’s a video of the bus just before it falls,” he told the Ansa news agency. “The vehicle arrives, decelerates, and stops. It is nearly stopped when it smashes through the guardrail. I believe the driver must have become unwell, as I have no other explanation.”
Wednesday morning, firefighters eventually removed the wrecked bus from the site.
A local hospital features a reception area staffed by psychologists and psychiatrists to help victims’ families.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni of Italy stated that the country’s thoughts were with the victims and their loved ones.
