Italy struggled on Monday (July 29) to come to terms with a bus crash on Sunday (July 28) which killed 38 people and injured 10 others in one of the country's worst ever road accidents.
The accident happened on Sunday night when a coach carrying some 50 people, including many children, plunged off a viaduct near the southern town of Monteforte Irpino, east of Naples while returning from an excursion.
Video from the crash site showed crushed wreckage from the coach which lay on its side while bodies covered in white sheets were lined up on the road.
Initial reports suggested that the coach was travelling at speed and had hit four or five cars before crashing over the roadside barriers on a stretch of road which local media said had been the scene of repeated accidents.
It was not clear for the moment whether there was any mechanical damage to the vehicle's brakes or problems with its tyres or whether there was any fault on the part of the driver, who was killed in the accident.
Prosecutors have already opened an investigation into the case, which comes just days after 79 people were killed in a high-speed train crash in Spain.
All of the victims appear to have been Italians returning from an excursion to the town of Telese Terme, known for its hot sulphurous springs and a nearby lake popular as a fishing spot.
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