A bus overturns carrying Ukrainian refugees on a major highway in northern Italy at dawn on Sunday. A young mother died, Italian firefighters and news reports said. A further five people were injured.
The crash occurred near Forli, a town in the Emilia-Romagna region in northeastern Italy. The rest of those aboard were safely evacuated.
The bus overturns, landing on its side on a grassy slope just beyond a highway guardrail and near a farm field. Firefighters used two cranes in an operation to set the bus upright and remove it.
Cause of crash under investigation
The cause of the crash was under investigation. Highway Police official Andrea Biagioli said there were no skid marks. “It could have been [the driver] suddenly falling asleep,” Biagioli told state TV. However, he stressed no cause had yet been determined.
The bus had set out from Ukraine and was heading south to Pescara, an Adriatic port city, when it overturned. The passengers were taken to a nearby police barracks for initial assistance, and would later resume their journey, the Interior Ministry said.
The victim was a 32-year-old woman whose two children, aged five and 10, suffered bruises in the crash, the Italian news agency LaPresse said.
The children were taken to a hospital where they were receiving psychological as well as medical assistance, LaPresse said.
