A bus carrying tourists to a campground crashed off an overpass near Venice in northern Italy on Tuesday, killing 21 people and injuring 18 others.
 
As Reuters reported, the bus veered off the road and fell near railway lines in Mestre, a district connected to Venice by a bridge.
 
It was unclear what caused the accident. One line of inquiry, according to Venice city councillor Renato Boraso, could be that the driver, a 40-year-old Italian, was ill before the accident.
Boraso told Sky Italia, "It's an appalling tragedy, the city is in mourning.".
 
According to him, the coach had carried 40 passengers, 21 of whom were killed and 18 injured. It could lead to a higher death toll because several of those injured are in critical condition, he added. The injured people were taken to hospitals nearby, with four in serious condition, Venice's city hall said.
 
Approximately 15 metres (50 feet) of the vehicle fell onto electricity lines and caught fire around 7:45 pm in the local time zone (1745 GMT).
 
Venice's prefect Michele Di Bari, the local representative of the interior ministry, said five of the victims were Ukrainians and one was German.
 
According to Italian news agency ANSA, the bus also carried passengers from France and Croatia.
 
In a television interview with Sky Italia, Di Bari said, "The bus is totally crushed. The firefighters had difficulty pulling out a lot of bodies." The victims included two children.
 
As of Tuesday evening, rescuers were still working to free trapped passengers from the wreckage of the bus.

 
A statement by Giorgia Meloni expressed her condolences, saying the government's thoughts were with "the victims, their families, and friends.".