At least 25 people, many schoolchildren, killed as bus plunges into Cape Verde ravine

At least 25 people, many of them schoolchildren and teenagers, died when a passenger bus plunged about 30 metres into a ravine on Cape Verde’s mountainous Fogo island.

The crash occurred late Saturday on the Campanas de Cima mountain road in northern Fogo. The bus veered off the road and fell into a steep ravine, national news agency Inforpress reported. Several injured passengers were taken to São Francisco de Assis Regional Hospital.

Many of those killed were primary and secondary school students. Education officials said the trip was not organised by local schools. Instead, it was an annual outing privately arranged by the driver, who also died in the crash.

President José Maria Pereira Neves described the accident as “a great catastrophe” and was expected to travel to Fogo with other officials. Local media, citing the island’s health authorities, reported that seven bodies were buried immediately because of their condition. Authorities had not yet established what caused the crash.

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a great catastrophe