Bus carrying Hungarian passengers, mostly teenagers, crashes and catches fire on motorway near city of Verona

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

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.

The coach crashed into a bridge pillar on the motorway near Verona at about 11pm on Friday.

Girolamo Lacquaniti, the head of the city’s traffic police, said most of the passengers were teenage students and others were teachers and parents. Images from the scene showed the bus engulfed in flames.

Initial reports suggest that most of the victims were trapped by the fire that tore through the coach following the collision. The recovery operation is still in progress and it is thought the death toll could climb.

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 had two drivers.

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.

According to Szijjártó, the driver lost control of the coach, which hit a guard rail and then an overpass support before catching fire. He said investigators had so far found no brake marks at the scene.

Italy’s state radio reported that a Slovenian truck driver traveling behind the bus noticed a problem with one of its 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 Verona hospitals. 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.”

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 said.

The crash comes days after an avalanche buried a hotel in the Rigopiano resort in the Gran Sasso mountains.











