At least 21 killed after bus carrying students plunges off cliff in Cabo Verde

At least 21 people died when a bus carrying mainly young students and teenagers left the road and plunged into a rocky ravine on Cabo Verde’s Fogo island. The crash occurred late Saturday on the road linking Chã das Caldeiras and Campanas de Cima, in the northern part of São Filipe municipality.

The bus fell from a cliff about 30 metres high and came to rest in terrain that rescuers described as difficult to access. Authorities initially reported 10 deaths, then warned that the toll could rise as search and rescue teams worked at the site.

More than a dozen people were treated in the emergency department of the San Francisco de Asís Regional Hospital. The total number of injured people had not yet been confirmed.

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A true tragedy, whose causes I still do not know. I offer my condolences to the grieving families, the victims' friends and the island of Fogo.

President José Maria Neves called the crash “a true tragedy” and said he did not yet know what had caused it. He offered condolences to the victims’ families, friends and the people of Fogo, and wished the injured a quick recovery.

Although secondary-school students were on board, José Pedro Gonçalves, the Education Ministry’s delegate in São Filipe, said the trip was not a school activity. It was an annual outing that the bus driver, who died in the crash, used to organize during the school year. The cause of the accident remains unknown.

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I wish the injured a speedy recovery.