At least 21 people have died and 18 were injured after a tourist coach crashed off an overpass near Venice in northern Italy.

The coach was carrying a group of tourists who were returning to a campsite in Marghera after spending the day in Venice, according to reports in the Italian media.

 

Officials said the vehicle fell 30 metres (98ft) on to electricity lines and caught fire at about 7.45pm local time.

Those on board included Ukrainian, German and French citizens, according to Venice prefect Michele Di Bari. Two of the dead were children. The Italian driver, aged 40, was also killed, Di Bari said.

“The bus is totally crushed. The firefighters had difficulty getting a lot of the bodies out,” Di Bari told Sky Italia television.

 

Four of the injured were in serious condition, said Renato Boraso, a Venice city official.

The coach veered off the road in Mestre and landed close to railway lines where it caught fire, TGCom24 reported.

Italy’s interior minister, Matteo Piantedosi, said the bus “flew 30 metres”.

“It seems that the aggravating factor of the scenario was determined by the fact that it [the bus] was powered by methane, therefore the fire developed quickly,” he told TG1.

Mestre is connected to Venice by a bridge. The cause of the incident is unclear.

“It’s an apocalyptic scene. I am speechless,” Venice’s mayor, Luigi Brugnaro, posted on X, formerly Twitter.

 

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Yeiks that’s horrible by condolences to the bereaved sad ????