By Giada Zampano - The Associated Press
A bus carrying foreign tourists crashed Tuesday near the Italian city of Venice after it fell from an elevated avenue onto train tracks, killing at least 21 people and injuring 18 others, local authorities said.
Four of the injured were in serious condition after the crash in the Mestre neighborhood, on the mainland opposite Venice's historic center, said Renato Boraso, a Venice city official. Two of the dead were children, according to Venice prefect Michele Di Bari.
Italian police officers at the scene of a bus crash near the city of Venice, Italy, Oct. 3, 2023.
Boraso confirmed that some of the victims were Ukrainian tourists and said the vehicle was taking passengers to a camping site.
[How fingerprints on blackmail note led to the rescue of kidnapped girl in New York]
Luigi Brugnaro, mayor of Venice, wrote on the X social network, formerly known as Twitter, that the accident was "apocalyptic" and that he had declared "mourning in the city" for the "numerous victims."
10 Cuban migrants die in accident in Chiapas, southern Mexico
Oct. 2, 202300:27
According to local media, the bus fell several meters before crashing into the Mestre railway lines, after which it caught fire. Emergency services were at the scene.
[Two children die after falling into daycare pool in California]
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni expressed her "deepest regret" after the crash.