Rome

Italian officials have initiated an investigation into the bus disaster near Venice on Wednesday that left at least 21 people, including two children dead, reported to source.

A representative for the Italian fire department told to source that investigators were still trying to determine what caused the incident on Tuesday in Mestre.

Notably, the 40-year-old bus driver Alberto Rizzotto was among the deceased, while 18 other persons were injured.

According to source, concerns about the battery slowed down the rescue operation on Tuesday. The Venice public prosecutor has opened an investigation into the crash.

The bus was travelling from Venice to nearby Marghera and was full of people returning home from work, Venice mayor Luigi Brugnaro told to source.

It completely went off the road, it flew off the bridge. It was a bus; it was a highway. We are in mourning, he said.

Brugnaro described the scene as apocalyptic in a post on Facebook. Chief of Staff of the Prefecture of Venice Francesco Martino told to source that 18 people were also injured in the crash and that authorities were still trying to determine what caused it.

The accident occurred on the overpass of a road that leads from Mestre to Marghera and the A4 motorway. The bus broke through a wall of the overpass, falling between a warehouse and the tracks of the Mestre station below, according to source.

The fire brigade wrote on X: Following the impact, the vehicle caught fire.