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Italy bus crash: at least 16 dead and dozens rushed to hospital Italy bus crash: at least 16 dead and dozens rushed to hospital
(about 4 hours later)
At least 16 people were killed and about 40 injured after a bus carrying Hungarian students crashed and burst into flames on a highway in northern Italy, police said on Saturday.At least 16 people were killed and about 40 injured after a bus carrying Hungarian students crashed and burst into flames on a highway in northern Italy, police said on Saturday.
Girolamo Lacquaniti, head of highway police in the city of Verona, said most of the passengers were teenage students and others were teachers and parents. He told SkyTG 24 television that the bus went off the road near a highway exit during the night. Television images showed the bus on fire. The coach crashed into a bridge pillar on the motorway near the city of Verona at about 11pm on Friday.
Dozens of injured were rushed to hospital following the accident near Verona, which happened when the vehicle struck a pylon, according to emergency workers cited in the reports. Girolamo Lacquaniti, head of highway police in Verona, said most of the passengers were teenage students and others were teachers and parents. Images from the scene showed the bus engulfed in flames.
The website of Corriere della Sera newspaper said bodies were being recovered from the wreckage and the death toll could climb. Initial reports suggest that most of the victims were trapped by the flames that tore through the coach following the collision. The recovery operation is still in progress and it is thought the death toll could climb.
The bus had been carrying at least 50 passengers. Most were Hungarians aged between 14 and 18, Corriere della Sera said. Most of the passengers on board were Hungarian schoolchildren traveling home from a ski trip in France. A spokesman for Hungary’s foreign ministry said the bus was carrying 54 passengers and two drivers.
The national fire service said on Twitter that the bus had burst into flames. “There are many victims,” it said. Italian news reports said the French bus driver and his family could be among the victims. The Hungarian foreign minister, Péter Szijjártó, told reporters that one of the most critically injured passengers remains in an induced coma in hospital.
Police were awaiting the go-ahead from the prosecutor to analyse the wreckage, Agi said. According to Szijjártó, the driver lost control of the coach, which hit a guard rail and then the overpass support before catching fire. He added that investigators had so far found no brake marks at the scene.
The bus crash caps a tragic week for Italy in which an avalanche buried a hotel in the Rigopiano resort in Gran Sasso mountains. Italy’s state radio reported that a Slovenian truck driver who was traveling behind the bus noticed a problem with one of the bus wheels and tried to alert the driver. According to the broadcaster the truck driver remained at the scene trying to help until investigators arrived.
About 10 of the most seriously injured passengers are still receiving treatment in two hospitals in the Italian city. Those who escaped the wreck unscathed were taken to spend the night in a hotel.
The Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orbán said in a statement: “With my prayers, I am with the families and friends shocked by the tragedy.”
Local highway police chief Girolamo Lacquaniti told SkyTG24 television: “We are not aware of other vehicles being involved, it seems to have gone off the road of its own accord.”
The national fire service tweeted that the bus had burst into flames. “There are many victims,” it added.
The road carnage comes days after an avalanche buried a hotel in the Rigopiano resort in Gran Sasso mountains.