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14 School Children Killed in Bus Crash in Italy

by VOA News

   WASHINGTON --

   A bus carrying Hungarian school students crashed in northern Italy
   overnight and burst into flames, killing 14 of the young passengers,
   Italian media reported Saturday.

   The bus was carrying mostly boys from Hungary between the ages of 14
   and 18 when it struck a barrier and caught fire on a motorway near
   Verona shortly before midnight.

   Police commander Geralomo Lacquanita said the bus crashed and burst
   into flames just before midnight. No other vehicles were involved and
   it was not clear why the bus went off the road, crashing into the
   barriers. Thirty-nine people survived, the Associated Press reported.

   The vehicle came from France and was passing through Italy to return to
   Hungary, according to emergency workers cited in the reports.

   The French bus driver may also have been killed.

   Dozens of injured were rushed to hospital following the accident.