“An apocalyptic scene.” This is how the mayor of Venice, Luigi Brugnaro, described this Tuesday a very serious accident occurred in Mestre, a highly populated area of the city of Venice. At least 21 people died -among them, some minors- and another 18 have been injured, according to a first balance that could grow. Furthermore, some of the victims would be foreigners, as reported by the president of the region, Luca Zaia.
According to the preliminary reconstruction, the vehicle broke the guardrail and fell 30 meters near the Mestre train station, on the road that connects this area with the A4 motorway. The bus, which was carrying out a service for a campsite in the area, has also caught fire, although the causes that led to this accident, which occurred around at 7:45 p.m.. The vehicle, powered by a hybrid of natural gas and diesel, would have started burning after touching some electrical cables.
In these circumstances, the Local Health Authority 3 of Venice has activated the “Major Emergencies” protocol which provides for the availability of all emergency rooms in public hospitals, and the call to work of reinforcement personnel. In fact, in addition to the dead, there is also a still imprecise number of missing people, while the wounded have been transferred to various hospitals from Venice and nearby cities, including Padua, Mirano and Trieste.
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For this reason, they have been used around 20 ambulances and also a helicopter. Likewise, firefighters, as well as emergency services and police, have attended the scene. Due to the accident, in addition, it has been suspended temporarily the train line between the two stations of Venice, Santa Lucia and Mestre.
Shortly after the accident, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni expressed her condolences on social media. “I express my deepest condolencesand that of the entire government, for the serious accident that occurred in Mestre. Our thoughts are with the victims, their families and friends. I’m in close contact with Mayor Luigi Brugnaro and Minister Matteo Piantedosi to follow the news of this tragedy,” said Meloni.