38 killed in Italy Bus crash
30 July 2013 11:43 PM GMT
An Italian tour crushed through a sidewall of a highway bridge in southern Italy, and plunged some 30 metres into a wooded ravine, killing at least 38 persons, authorities said on Monday.
Rescuers wielding electric saws cut through the twisted wreckage of the bus overnight, looking for survivors after it had plunged to the ground on Sunday night.
At least 10m of the wall was torn away, large chunks were visible in a clearing below. The bus lost control near the town of Monteforte Irpino in Irpinia, 160 miles south of Rome, hitting several cars before plunging off the viaduct.
Traffic on the stretch was slowed due to road work, officials said.
State radio quoted a local police chief as saying the bus driver was among the dead. It was not immediately clear why the bus driver lost control of the vehicle, but prosecutors were investigating technical problems and had ordered an autopsy on the driver.
The bus was carrying a group of weekend holidaymakers. The group arrived on Friday and spent the weekend visiting an early home of Padre Pio, a late monk popular among Catholics.
Rescuers wielding electric saws cut through the twisted wreckage of the bus overnight, looking for survivors after it had plunged to the ground on Sunday night.
At least 10m of the wall was torn away, large chunks were visible in a clearing below. The bus lost control near the town of Monteforte Irpino in Irpinia, 160 miles south of Rome, hitting several cars before plunging off the viaduct.
Traffic on the stretch was slowed due to road work, officials said.
State radio quoted a local police chief as saying the bus driver was among the dead. It was not immediately clear why the bus driver lost control of the vehicle, but prosecutors were investigating technical problems and had ordered an autopsy on the driver.
The bus was carrying a group of weekend holidaymakers. The group arrived on Friday and spent the weekend visiting an early home of Padre Pio, a late monk popular among Catholics.
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