The driver braked hard and the bus was almost at a standstill until it fell over the guardrail.
At least 21 were killed and 20 injured in a devastating bus crash in Mestre, Venice on Tuesday night. Among the dead are three children, one of whom was a baby. Italian Minister of the Interior Matteo Piantendosi says that the death toll may still rise, as some of the injured are in very bad shape.
It is known that no Finns have been involved in the emergency bus.
Among the dead are at least Ukrainian, Austrian, Spanish and German tourists. A 40-year-old Italian driver was also killed in the accident.
This course of events is now known
The devastating accident happened around 19:45 on Tuesday evening in Venice on the bridge connecting the districts of Mestre and Marghera.
Based on the video obtained from the scene, the bus passes another bus, after which it falls off the roadway over the guardrail. After this, the bus falls about 30 meters and ends up on the train tracks. The vehicle then catches fire.
The BBC reports that eyewitnesses have described the bus swerving 50 meters into the railing and braking at the same time until the railing broke. The bus went through yet another metal barrier, because there is a pedestrian crossing next to the road.
The fact that the vehicle was running on methane gas contributed to the quick catching fire of the bus.
Did the driver have a seizure?
An eyewitness to the incident tells La Presse that he heard heavy braking before the rumble started. The strong braking is seen, according to several sources, to indicate that the driver, characterized as experienced, had an attack of illness.
President of Veneto Luca Zaia states, according to the BBC, that “everything points to” that the driver had suffered some kind of illness. Zaia adds that it is pointless to speculate on the causes of the accident.
Also the La linea bus company Massimo Fiorese states to the Italian news agency Ansa that the vehicle was less than a year old and the driver was very experienced. Fiorese says he saw the video of the events.
– The bus is almost at a standstill when it crashes through the guard rail. I believe that the driver must have been ill, because otherwise I can’t explain it, Fiorese reflects.
Identifying the victims is challenging
It has been difficult to identify the victims, says the Venice prosecutor Bruno Cherchi. Identification has been made difficult by the fact that several passengers did not have identification documents with them.
Only a few of the rescued have been able to talk to the researchers on Wednesday, Cherchi says according to the BBC.
Fire department commander Mauro Longo says, according to Il Gazzettino’s website, that the ignition of the bus’s batteries made the rescue and clearance work challenging.