Story highlights The bus went up in flames after hitting a bridge pylon

State media: 55 people were on the bus at the time of the accident

(CNN) A bus returning from a school trip hit a pylon of a bridge near Verona in northern Italy on Saturday, leaving at least 16 people dead, according to Italian news agency ANSA.

Thirty-nine others were injured, Italian firefighters posted on their official Twitter account.

The bus was reportedly returning to Budapest, Hungary, from a school field trip in a mountain resort in France when the incident happened at the junction of Verona East on the road toward Venice, ANSA said.

The bus was carrying 55 people, the majority school boys ages 14 to 18, ANSA said.

Upon immediate impact, the bus went up in flames, some of the occupants were thrown outside the burning bus while others remained trapped inside, the agency said.

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