Italy: school bus carrying Hungarian teenagers crashes, fire leaves 16 dead

A bus carrying schoolchildren has crashed and caught fire in northern Italy, killing at least 16 people, emergency officials say.

The bus, carrying pupils from Hungary, collided with a pylon as it exited the A4 motorway near Verona late on Friday.

Italy's national fire service said on Twitter that another 39 people had been injured.

The bus was returning to Budapest from France, where the pupils had been on a mountain holiday.

Italian news agency Ansa said a number of the pupils, who were mainly boys aged between 14 and 18, were thrown out of the vehicle when it collided with the pylon.

It is not known why the bus left the road.

Others were trapped inside the bus when it caught fire, Ansa said. Ten of those in hospital are seriously hurt, it said.

The death toll is not expected to increase, the fire service added.

Hungarian media reported that the country's consul in Milan has arrived in Verona.

Awful.

Praying for them.  I know that section of road.....

Hungary: Official says it could take days to ID bus victims

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) January 22, 2017 — It could take days to officially identify the 16 people killed when a bus carrying Hungarian students returning from a ski trip crashed in Italy, Hungary's foreign minister said Sunday.

Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said there were 54 passengers and two Hungarian drivers on the bus that crashed on an Italian highway near Verona just before midnight Friday. Two adults hospitalized in critical condition also have yet to be identified.



https://www.mail.com/int/news/europe/4915608-hungary-official-take-days-to-bus-victims.html#.1258-stage-hero1-6

Hungary marks day of mourning for victims of fiery bus crash

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) January 23, 2017 — Hungary's national flag has been raised and then lowered to half-staff on a towering flagpole outside parliament as the country marked a day of mourning for the victims of a fiery bus crash in Italy involving students and teachers from a Budapest high school returning from a ski trip.

The national flag is hoisted then lowered to half-staff by honour guards during a ceremony to mark the day of mourning observed for victims of the crash of a Hungarian bus in Italy in front of the Parliament building in Budapest, Hungary

Prime Minister Viktor Orban, President Janos Ader and other officials took part in the ceremony Monday morning at Kossuth Square. Sixteen people, mostly students, were killed in the crash late Friday near Verona, Italy. Two adults remain in critical condition in Italy while most of the other survivors have returned to Budapest. The causes of the accident — in which the bus crashed into a guardrail before smashing into an overpass support column and bursting into flames — are still unknown.

So sorry for all involved.

It's horrible, one of these ghastly tragedies when there is nothing anyone can say that is of the slightest comfort to the bereaved.

I'll say, Bonny.

Hungary: Teacher hailed for saving lives in fiery bus crash


BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) January 23, 2017 — A Hungarian teacher who pulled some students out of a fiery bus in Italy despite getting burned and losing his own two children in the crash was being hailed as a hero Monday as Hungary held a national day of mourning for the 16 victims.

Gym teacher Gyorgy Vigh was among the 56 people on the bus carrying mostly students from Budapest's Szinyei Merse Pal high school home after a skiing trip to France. The causes of Friday night's accident near the northern Italian city of Verona — in which the bus crashed into a guardrail before smashing into an overpass support column and bursting into flames — are still unknown.

Vice principal Gabor Jaki described Vigh as "a man of action, a cheerful person ... who helps wherever he can." "We really need to consider the teacher as a hero, since he literally risked his life to save his students," Jaki said outside the school.

Vigh suffered burns but survived. Vigh's wife, Erika, was also on the skiing trip and described to Italian newspaper Corriere Della Sera how she witnessed the death of her own daughter, who was sitting near the front of the bus with her boyfriend.

https://www.mail.com/int/business/markets/4917286-hungary-teacher-hailed-saving-lives-fiery-bus-cras.html#.1258-stage-hero1-3

Bless him. I hope he can get through his own pain.