VENICE – The breakage of a damaged right pin and therefore of the joint that connects to the steering led the bus to skid in a fatal manner and fall from an overpass in Mestre on 3 October causing the death of 22 people. The data emerged today from a meeting with the Venice Prosecutor Bruno Cherchi which announced the closure of the appraisal phase and the transmission of the documents to the parties and their consultants for the consequent technical deductions. According to the Prosecutor’s report, the state of the road barriers was such due to its age and lack of maintenance so as not to withstand the impact. “To be established – said Cherchi – the causal link between the failure of the steering and the state of the barriers“. At the moment the suspects are three officials of the Municipality of Venice and the CEO of La Linea.
The images of the last moments of life of the passengers of the ‘Yutong’ bus crashed are documented by a video from the on-board cameras, acquired by the Prosecutor’s Office as part of the investigation into the incident. The Prosecutor made this known. The magistrate asked the parties who will come into possession of it (and will be able to use it for the purposes of the investigation) “not to publish or disseminate it. The images are crude, there are minors and people who die – he said -, it does not belong to anyone utility for public opinion, I appeal to common sense”.
“The cameras – explained Cherchi – with their footage add nothing to what is known also through other reports and testimonies”. In fact, the images document that the bus was traveling normally on the overpass, when it started to drift to the right – today it was learned due to the failure of a steering joint – banging several times and scattering pieces on the barriers, and then crashing.
THE DRIVER
The behavior of the driver driving the bus that crashed from the Mestre overpass on 3 October 2023 has been corrected. This is the conclusion reached, according to the magistrates, by the reports on the electronic instruments supplied with the vehicle and the images of the vehicle. The autopsy and further forensic investigations on the heart of Alberto Rizzotto, from Treviso from Tezze di Vazzola, who also died in the accident, have ruled out that the 40-year-old could have been taken ill before the crash. From the collection of data on the mobile phone and from the images of the cameras, it appears that the driver received emails and messages in those situations, but never used the mobile phone during the ride. The autopsy showed that Rizzotto died following serious head injuries suffered when the bus fell from the overpass.
THE COUNCILOR
“Let’s let the experts and the Prosecutor’s Office work. The investigation is open and I won’t comment.” The Mobility Councilor of the Municipality of Venice said this regarding the Mestre bus affair and the first expert findings. Given the hypothesis of mechanical failure for the vehicle that crashed from the Mestre overpass, Boraso excludes calling into question the ‘Yutong’ vehicles which, despite a second accident without consequences, had been suspended from service and overhauled. The words Boraso are therefore for the driver’s family, the 40-year-old Alberto Rizzotto who died in the crash, who emerges from the affair without responsibility. “I sympathize with Alberto’s family – he says -, they are coming out of a very bad period, but dignity has been restored to one of their relatives who was only a victim and joins the list of others”. “A truth – concludes Boraso – which gives dignity to their relative and can be a consolation even if it doesn’t give Alberto back to them”.
