16 School Children Killed in Bus Crash in Italy

VOA News
Last Updated: 21 January 2017 (3:34AM)

WASHINGTON — A bus carrying Hungarian school students crashed in northern Italy overnight and burst into flames, killing 16 of the young passengers, Italian media reported Saturday.

The bus was carrying mostly boys from Hungary between the ages of 14 and 18 when it struck a barrier and caught fire on a motorway near Verona shortly before midnight.

Police said 16 badly burned bodies had been pulled from the wreckage. No other vehicles were involved and it was not clear why the bus went off the road, crashing into the barriers.

At least 54 passengers, including adults accompanying the students, and two drivers were aboard. Thirty-nine of them were injured and were taken to various hospitals in Verona.

The bus came from France and was passing through Italy to return to Budapest, Hungary, according to emergency workers cited in the reports.