The tragedy killed at least 21 people, including two children, and injured about 18 people. Photo: CLAUDIA GRECO/REUTERS
Two migrants have been hailed as heroes for rushing to the aid of tourists trapped on an electric bus that fell 50 feet from an overpass near Venice and burst into flames.
Boubacar Toure, 27, from Gambia, and Godstaim Ercheneden, 30, were preparing dinner at home in their apartments in the city of Mestre when they heard the bus crash through the security fence and hit the ground.
Two men, who have been living and working in Italy for several years, immediately ran out of their apartments to the scene of the tragedy, which was about 100 meters away.
“When I was cooking rice at home, I heard a very loud noise. I thought it was an earthquake,” said Toure, 27, who works as a scaffolder. “Godstime came running and said that he saw the bus fall from the overpass.”
Arriving at the scene, they found the bus on the roof. It was transporting a group of tourists, reportedly including Germans, Croats, French and Ukrainians, from the historical sites of Venice back to their camp on the mainland.
«I heard people screaming, they were locked inside and calling for help,» Mr. Toure told the Corriere della Sera newspaper.
“We pulled out a woman and her little daughter, then a man, and then I pulled out a dog. They all seemed alive. Then I looked inside the wreckage and saw the driver — he was dead. I wanted to save more people, they were screaming, but the flames were getting higher and becoming too fierce. I had to retreat.”
The driver turned out to be a local resident, Alberto Rizzotto, 40 years old.
Mr Erneheden, who works as a welder, said: «There was a woman there who spoke English and she was crying and saying, 'Take my daughter, take my daughter.' She was a little girl, I think about two years old. She was unconscious and I was afraid she might be dead. I am very upset — she was the same age as my son. It was like I lost him.”
While the two friends were doing their best to help the survivors, firefighters and police began to arrive on the scene.
Local residents named Alberto Rizzotto as the bus driver. Photo: UNPIXS
As a result of the tragedy, at least 21 people died, including two children, and about 18 people were injured.
Fire commander Mauro Longo told Italian media that the batteries in the bus caught fire and he was attempting to escape. passengers inside are extremely dangerous.
The bus involved in the accident was a Chinese-made electric vehicle.
The Futon E-12 is manufactured by the Chinese company Yutong, one of the leading firms in the industry.
The bus has batteries located on the roof and has a range of about 250 miles per charge, which takes about three and a half hours. The batteries are equipped with devices that protect them from short circuits.
About 20 buses went into service last year on several routes in the mainland city of Mestre, across the lagoon. from Venice, in northeastern Italy.
The vehicles are said to be equipped with sophisticated collision avoidance systems, as well as external cameras.
Investigators are trying to figure out what caused the car to crash through a guardrail and fall 50 feet off an overpass.
The bus fell from overpass from a height of 50 feet, struck electrical cables and caught fire. Photo: Anadolu Agency
At this stage there is no suggestion that the bus was malfunctioning, instead attention was turned to whether the driver suffered a seizure. or there was another medical emergency, or he may have momentarily fallen asleep at the wheel.
Among the 21 people killed in the tragedy were an infant and a 12-year-old child. A three-year-old girl was seriously burned when a bus caught fire after skidding off the road.
The governor of the Veneto region and the mayor of Venice called for three days of mourning.
The governor of the Veneto region and the mayor of Venice called for a three days of mourning.
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Currently, seven dead have been identified — five Ukrainian tourists, a German vacationer and an Italian driver.
Among the wounded are a Ukrainian, a Frenchman, a Croatian, a German, two Austrians and two Spaniards.
Prosecutor Bruno Cerci said there was no evidence that the bus collided with another vehicle before falling off the overpass.
“We are working on (establishing) the dynamics of the accident, during which the bus hit a fence, slid along it for about 50 meters and eventually fell to the ground,” he said.
“There are no signs of braking or contact with other vehicles.” , he added.
The driver’s colleagues said that he is experienced.
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