Venice: Three Germans die after bus accident

The trip was almost over: a day in Venice, then a bus from the lagoon city back to mainland Italy. To a campsite in the Marghera district, where overnight stays cost significantly less than near St. Mark’s Square or Rialto Bridge. Usually less than a quarter of an hour drive. But then, just three kilometers from the destination, disaster struck: for an unknown reason, the bus carrying almost 40 day-trippers came off the higher road in the mainland district of Mestre on Tuesday evening and fell 15 meters into the depths. The result: 21 dead and 15 injured.

The fatalities included three Germans, nine Ukrainians and four people from Romania, as a spokesman for the mayor of Venice confirmed to the AFP news agency on Wednesday evening. The other dead came from Portugal, South Africa and Croatia. The Italian driver of the bus also died. Italian media reported that two brothers from Germany, aged seven and 13, were among the injured. Her parents were therefore among those killed.

As is often the case these days, cell phone videos quickly make the rounds. They are images of horror: a view down from the bridge. There isn’t much left of the rusted guard rails. The almost completely burnt out bus in the headlights. Only poorly covered corpses. In between is the Patriarch of Venice, Bishop Francesco Moraglia, who, standing alone, blesses the dead that night. In the words of Mayor Luigi Brugnaro: “An apocalypse.”

Cause of bus accident in Venice still unclear

The day after, many questions were still unanswered. Identifying the fatalities was initially difficult and lengthy. Initially, the identity of only seven of the 21 fatalities could be determined beyond doubt. The Venice public prosecutor, Bruno Cherchi, told the TV channel RaiNews24 that they wanted to carry out DNA tests. The authorities may have achieved a breakthrough so that the exact nationalities of the victims could be named on Wednesday evening.

According to the responsible prefecture, in addition to the three Germans, nine Ukrainians, four Romanians, two Portuguese, a Croat, a South African and an Italian who had been driving the bus died. By the evening, 13 of the 15 injured people had been identified. There are also said to be Germans among them – four, according to preliminary figures from the prefecture. The others come from Ukraine, Spain, France and Croatia.

The driver of the bus, a 40-year-old Italian, was among the dead. Because it is unclear why the bus fell so suddenly from the bridge shortly after dark around 7:45 p.m., it is now of particular interest. According to colleagues, he was a reliable man with many years of professional experience. In addition, the man had only started work 90 minutes before the accident. The bus belongs to a company called La Linea Spa and was chartered from a campsite in Marghera.

“It’s a tragedy”

It is speculated that the driver may have lost control of the bus due to a fainting spell – or that he may have fallen asleep. The public prosecutor’s office initiated an investigation that night. Other possibilities are not ruled out either. The investigators initially hoped to obtain information from a surveillance camera that monitors the traffic on the Rizzardi Bridge at this point on the approximately 70-year-old road. However, in the video, the crucial scene of the crash is obscured by another bus – you can only see the bus falling over the guardrail from a distance. A camera in the modern electric bus may also have recorded the scene. The camera was still being searched for in the burned-out wreckage on Wednesday.

The bus company’s managing director, Massimo Fiorese, was quoted by Italian broadcaster Rai as saying: “What we know is that there is a fixed camera on the bridge. From what I saw in the pictures you can see the bus coming at less than 50 kilometers per hour. You see the brake lights flashing. So he braked. Then you see the vehicle leaning against the guardrail, tipping over and falling down.”

The vehicle is the shuttle bus of a campsite called HU. There are also normal hotel rooms and places for mobile homes on the site. Some young German tourists who stayed overnight there said on television on Tuesday evening: “We were supposed to take the next bus. But it didn’t come. And then we heard it. It’s a tragedy.”

Several injured people still in intensive care

It has long since become a habit for day-trippers from the mainland suburbs of Marghera or Mestre to commute to the old town. Both are separate districts of Venice, but are often referred to as the “ugly sisters”. You can sleep and eat much cheaper there. You can get to the lagoon with your own car, by train or by bus.

Some people in Venice don’t like that. The city – one of the most famous holiday destinations in the world – receives more than five million visitors every year. During high season, there are often more than 100,000 strangers in the city at the same time, most of them for just a few hours. For the first time next year, Venice wants to charge short-term vacationers who don’t stay overnight for admission on around 30 days: five euros per person.

But that’s just a minor matter the day after the disaster. The flags will fly at half-mast in front of state buildings on Wednesday. Mayor Brugnaro is receiving letters of condolence from all over the world. The 15 injured people are being cared for in hospitals throughout the region. Several are in intensive care. Rail traffic from the mainland towards the lagoon is now running normally again. And in the morning the HU campsite shuttle buses started operating again.