2017 Verona bus crash
The 2017 Verona bus crash was a traffic collision that happened around midnight at night of 20–21 January 2017 on the A4 motorway at San Martino Buon Albergo, near Verona, in Italy. A coach that was transporting Hungarian high school students (14–18 yrs old) and their teachers back from a skiing trip in France collided with the highway traffic barrier, crashed into a bridge pylon, and then caught fire.
| 2017 Verona bus crash | |
|---|---|
A4 motorway | |
| Details | |
| Date | 20–21 January 2017 |
| Location | A4 motorway at 298th km, at San Martino Buon Albergo |
| Country | Italy |
| Operator | Pizolit Busz Személyszállító Kft. |
| Owner | Pizolit Busz Személyszállító Kft. |
| Incident type | Collision, fire |
| Cause | Barrier design flaw, possible wheel failure. |
| Statistics | |
| Passengers | 54 (+2 drivers) |
| Deaths | 18 (all Hungarians) |
| Injured | 25 (10 serious, 1 critical) |
The fire charred the bus. Sixteen people on board the bus were killed and at least 26 sustained injuries, 10 serious and two life-threatening. Some of the bodies of victims were burned beyond recognition, and the investigation team had to take DNA samples of the parents of the deceased victims to identify the bodies. One of the seriously injured victims suffered third-degree burns. He died on 22 March, raising the number of victims to 17. The accident became the most severe foreign bus crash involving Hungarians, along with the 1999 Deutschlandsberg bus crash which also claimed 18 lives.