DrThe trip was coming to an end: a day in Venice, then a bus from the beach city back to the Italian mainland. To a campsite in the Marghera area, where an overnight stay costs much less than near St. Mark’s Square or the Rialto Bridge. Usually less than a quarter of an hour by car. But then, just three kilometers from the destination, disaster struck: for an unknown reason, the bus carrying nearly 40 day passengers veered off the higher road and fell 15 meters deep. 21 people were killed and 15 others were injured in a traffic accident that occurred on Tuesday evening. The Italian news agency ANSA reported on Wednesday evening, citing the responsible prefecture, that three Germans were among the dead.
Nine Ukrainians, four Romanians, two Portuguese, one Croat and one South African were also killed. The Italian driver was also killed. According to ANSA, ten of the fifteen infected people are still receiving treatment in the intensive care unit.
A 1.5 meter gap in the handrail
On Thursday evening, City Transportation Councilor Renato Borasso announced that the guardrail at the point where the car fell did not meet applicable safety standards. Accordingly, renovation plans have been in place since 2016, but work only began in September.
The Italian newspaper La Stampa wrote about a “scandal” regarding securing the bridge. Therefore, there was a 1.5 meter gap in the railing at the accident site. The metal railing behind this gap could not withstand the impact of the bus. According to previous findings, it rubbed several meters along the handrail before it reached the gap and fell.
After the accident, cell phone videos went viral. These are horror pictures: a view from under the bridge. Not many guardrails remained, the bus almost completely burned out in the headlights. Just poorly covered corpses. In the middle is the Patriarch of Venice, Bishop Francesco Moralia, who stands alone and blesses the dead that night. In the words of the city’s mayor, Luigi Brugnaro: „The end of the world.” Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni expressed her “deep condolences.”
Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Green Party) also expressed her condolences to the victims and their families. French President Emmanuel Macron, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and European Council President Charles Michel made similar statements.
Because of the fire, it is feared that it will take a long time before the identities of all the dead are confirmed with certainty. Some of the infected people come from Ukraine, Spain, Austria, France and Croatia.
Speculation about the bus driver’s impairment
Since it is unclear why the bus suddenly fell off the bridge shortly after dark around 7:45 p.m., special focus is now on the bus driver. According to his colleagues, he was a reliable man with many years of professional experience. The bus belongs to a company called La Linea Spa and was rented from a campsite in Marghera.
It is expected that the driver lost control of the bus due to a fainting spell, or that he may have fallen asleep. The Public Prosecutor’s Office launched an investigation that night. Other possibilities are not ruled out either. Investigators are hoping to get information from a surveillance camera monitoring traffic at this point on the nearly 70-year-old street. A camera on a modern bus may have also recorded the scene. The search for the burned wreckage continues as of Wednesday.
Italian Radio Rai quoted the bus company’s managing director, Massimo Fiorizzi, as saying: “What we know is that there is a fixed camera on the bridge. From what I saw in the pictures, the bus can be seen coming at a speed of less than 50 kilometers per hour. You can see the brake lights coming on.” He braked. Then you see the car leaning on the guardrail, turning over and falling.”
“The force was terrible because he fell from a height of more than ten metres,” said Mauro Longo, head of the Venice Fire Department. What made matters worse was that it was an electric bus and its batteries caught fire. Interior Minister Matteo Piantidosi had spoken about a bus powered by natural gas, and said that the fire „spread quickly” due to the supply of methane gas. An AFP photographer noted that emergency services first had to wait for the bus battery to cool on the wrecked bus lying on the roof.
Flags will be flown at half-mast in front of government buildings on Wednesday. Mayor Brugnaro receives messages of condolence from all over the world. The 15 injured are being cared for in hospitals across the region. Many of them are in intensive care. Railway traffic from the mainland towards the lake is running normally again. In the morning, the HU campsite shuttles started running again.
Flags fly at half-mast in front of the Hospital del Angelo, where injured bus passengers were taken after an accident in Mestre, near Venice.
Source: German News Agency/Antonio Calani
The president of the Association of Traffic Accident Victims, Domenico Musico, said it was „a tragedy with an announcement.” The affected road actually should have been upgraded to rule out a bus accident. The road was only secured with a “simple fence,” as the operator of the accident car, Massimo Fiorizzi, confirmed to the Italian news agency ANSA. Five years ago, a dilapidated motorway bridge collapsed in Genoa, northern Italy, killing 43 people.
