'It's an apocalyptic scene': At least 21 dead after bus falls off Venice bridge

A coach has crashed off an overpass near Venice in northern Italy, killing at least 21 people.

"The bus is totally crushed. The firefighters had difficulty getting a lot of the bodies out," Venice's prefect Michele Di Bari told an Italian television station. Source: AFP / Marco Sabadin

At least 21 people have been killed after a city bus carrying tourists to a campground crashed off an overpass near Venice in northern Italy and caught fire.

The bus veered off the road on Tuesday night and fell close to railway lines in the district of Mestre, which is connected to Venice by a bridge.

The cause of the accident was unclear. Venice city councillor Renato Boraso said one line of enquiry was that the driver, a 40-year-old Italian who was among those killed, had been taken ill before the crash.

"It's an appalling tragedy, the city is in mourning," Boraso told Sky Italia television.

He said the coach had been carrying 40 passengers, of whom 21 had died and 18 were injured. The death toll could rise because several of those hurt were in a critical condition, he added. Venice's city hall said the injured people had been taken to nearby hospitals, with four in a serious condition.

Officials said the vehicle fell around 15m onto electricity lines and caught fire about 7.45pm.

"It's an apocalyptic scene. I am speechless," Venice's Mayor Luigi Brugnaro posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Five of the victims were Ukrainians and one was German, said Venice's prefect Michele Di Bari, the local representative of the interior ministry.

The bus was also carrying passengers from France and Croatia, Italian news agency ANSA reported.

The bus fell from an elevated street, killing multiple people and leaving many others injured. Credit: Slow Press / LiveMedia / LaPresse / AP

"The bus is totally crushed. The firefighters had difficulty getting a lot of the bodies out," Di Bari told Sky Italia television. He said two children were among the victims.

Late on Tuesday evening, rescuers were still struggling to remove the wreckage of the bus to make sure no more passengers were trapped inside.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni expressed her condolences, saying in a statement that her government's thoughts were with "the victims, their families and their friends".

Italy has suffered a number of deadly bus crashes in recent years.

In 2017, 16 people on board a bus carrying Hungarian students died in an accident near the northern city of Verona, while 40 people died in 2013 when a bus plunged off a viaduct in southern Italy.