Venice bus crash: ‘Ghastly’ accident leaves unanswered questions as tourist city mourns ‘unbearable tragedy’
We are standing on the side of a flyover, looking over the edge, and it is a fearful sight.
Behind us, the traffic is pounding past, slowing slightly to take in the scene of northern Italy’s worst road accident.
And ahead of us is the reason why so many people perished here, just a couple of miles from the tourist streets and beautiful canals of Venice.
Pic: AP
A gap – a nothingness where there should be something.
To be precise, there should be two lines of metal guardrails here, installed to stop a vehicle falling off the side in the case of an accident.
But instead, all you can see are remnants of a ghastly accident.
Fragments of toughened glass, the lingering smell of burning, and twisted, broken lengths of metal where the guardrail should be.
Bus ‘violently’ veered
A little further down the hard shoulder, the guardrail is intact – and it is clearly old and corroded.
It’s held in place by regular supports built into the surface; where the crash happened, those supports have either been sliced off, or have simply been ripped out.
What we know is that the bus veered violently to the right. What we don’t know is why.
CCTV footage shows the bus driving along, briefly passing out of sight behind another vehicle, and then appearing in shot as it falls from the side of the road.
The driver is said to have been ‘experienced and respected’
But when I looked at the road surface, there was no sign of a skid mark; no indication that the driver had hit the brakes to try to slow the vehicle.
A piece of paper, taped to a lamppost, declares that the side of the road is now subject to criminal investigation, but the prosecutors remain wholly unsure what happened.
Did the driver, described as experienced and respected, suffer a catastrophic health problem, for instance?
Or was there a mechanical problem with the vehicle?
Just another grubby flyover
How could something have gone so extraordinarily wrong, here on a flyover that looks just like a thousand other grubby flyovers that we’ve all seen?
Standing here, it is a horrible sight, because you can see exactly what happened – the point where the bus careered off the road, smashed through the barriers and plunged around 50 feet to the road below, where it caught fire.
Pic: AP
We drive down to that point. There is still an acrid smell in the air, and the road is discoloured.
Smashed glass litters the roadside and, yards from where the bus crashed down, you can see where people have been sleeping rough.
There is a concrete wall on the far side, dividing the road from the train station.
A ‘gruesome’ tale that leaves unanswered questions
The bus brushed against that wall on its way down, before smashing into the road, killing so many.
It is a gruesome tale, and, standing here now, with lorries already passing by regularly, it feels extraordinary that the traffic is already back using the flyover, and the road below it.
This is, after all, officially a crime scene and Venice is dealing with an extraordinary trauma.
A woman passes us by, carrying flowers that she leaves on the side of the road, adding to a small collection.
She is, she says, just an ordinary Venetian who wanted to pay her respects.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Italy coach crash kills at least 21
“I am sad, upset,” she said, as another lorry pounds past, drowning out her sadness.
Some of the stories are unbearably sad.
A newborn baby killed. A couple from Croatia who had only been married for 20 days – the wife dead, the husband badly injured in hospital.
I meet Michele Di Bari, Venice’s chief of police.
He called the accident “a moment of great disturbance, of great pain and great suffering, because Venice is the city of the world.
“Tourists come here to admire the beauty and experience the serenity of a wonderful and extraordinary place.
Pic: AP
“This is a great loss, a great tragedy, an unexpected, sudden event that shakes every human soul.
“When I arrived on the scene, I couldn’t help but be very upset, because there was an apocalyptic scene before my eyes, an enormous tragedy that the community will struggle to come to terms with.”
On the motorway, the traffic keeps moving, but Italy cannot escape the shadow of this crash, the spectre of tourists dying a horrendous death, and all the questions.
The country will fill in the gap next to the motorway, replace the barriers, repair the road.
But the questions will linger – how could this possibly have happened, and how can the nation be sure it won’t happen again?
World
‘Better late than never’: Palestinian minister says UK recognition of state would be ‘courageous step’
Britain will be taking “a courageous step at a very difficult time” by officially recognising a Palestinian state, according to the authority’s foreign minister, who told Sky News she believes the announcement – expected in the coming days – will inspire more nations to follow suit.
The Palestinian Authority’s foreign minister, Varsen Aghabekian, told me Britain’s move was “better late than never”, and said “Britain, with its weight, can influence other countries to come forward and recognise, because that is the right thing to do”.
But she also said she is “very angry” with the White House over its “unwavering support” for Israel, and said that Israel’s refusal to pass on tax revenue was pushing Palestinian civil society to the brink of “collapse”.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Could recognition of Palestine change the West Bank?
Aghabekian was speaking as Britain, along with France, Canada and Australia, prepares to recognise the State of Palestine officially at the United Nations.
She told me: “Britain has been supporting the existence and the flourishing of Israel for some time, but I think today Britain is looking at the matter objectively, in terms of the right of people, in terms of complying with international law, and in terms of the future of this area for both the Israelis and Palestinians.”
She rejected the idea that recognising Palestine was a reward for Hamas terrorism, saying that “non-recognition” would also be a “reward to the extremists” and said that “if we wait until Israel decides it wants to go into negotiations with the Palestinians, then it won’t happen”.
Aghabekian told me she expected Gaza to be returned to the Palestinians, but I put it to her that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was being empowered by the diplomatic support he receives from America, and in particular, US President Donald Trump.
So is she angry with the White House? “Very angry, because I expect the White House and the United States of America to align with international law, with human rights, with having no double standards.
“This unwavering support for Israel, this blind support, is not only harming the Palestinians but also Israeli society.”
Read more:
What does recognising a Palestinian state mean?
Gaza could be ‘real estate bonanza’, Israeli minister says
Varsen Aghabekian speaks to Sky’s Adam Parsons
The state of Palestine is already recognised by three-quarters of the United Nations’ members. It comprises two separate territories – the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip. Together, they are officially known as the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
The West Bank has been subject to Israeli military occupation since 1967, while Gaza has been attacked by Israel since the Hamas attacks of 7 October 2023, when nearly 1,200 Israelis were killed and around 250 people were taken hostage.
Since then, more than 65,000 people have been killed in Gaza as Israel has sought to destroy Hamas and recover its hostages. There are 48 hostages still in Gaza, with 20 believed to be alive.
She confirmed to me that Mahmoud Abbas, leader of the Palestinian Authority, which governs the West Bank, “has given guarantees in letters to various leaders around the globe that said Hamas will not be part of the governance of the Gaza Strip” and insisted there was “probably a worldwide consensus” on the topic.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
How has UK responded to Israel-Gaza conflict?
But she also insisted it was “not reasonable” to talk of completely erasing Hamas: “Hamas is an ideology, not a building that you bring down. Hamas is in people’s minds; in their heads.
“Those who support Hamas need to see a future, need to see something that is moving on the political level, need to see that there might be a state in which their children and their grandchildren might prosper.
“What people see today, whether they are Hamas supporters or not, they see darkness and they see destruction all over. They see violation of rights. They are helpless and hopeless. People need to see things are moving forward, and once that happens, there will be a shift in the mood, and they will look for a better future.”
But just as the Palestinians prepare to welcome recognition, Aghabekian said the West Bank was facing financial collapse as Israel continues to withhold hundreds of millions of dollars of tax revenue that, under a 30-year-old agreement, it collects on the Palestinian Authority’s behalf.
Israel has retained a proportion of the money since the start of the war in Gaza, but, encouraged by finance minister Bezalel Smotrich, it has recently withheld a much higher amount.
“People have not been paid, civil servants are only receiving small parts of their salaries. We can’t buy medical supplies, equipment, you name it,” said Aghabekian.
“How can a government run a country under such conditions? So yes, we are very worried.”
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoButton battles heat exhaustion in NASCAR debut
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment12 months agoHere are the best electric bikes you can buy at every price level in October 2024