Tragedy has struck a Brazilian youth squad with their team bus diving 32 feet off of a bridge in a crash that left 4 dead and 29 seriously injured.
The bus belonged to the Esporte Clube Vila Maria Helena youth squad, with the incident occuring as they headed back to their home city of Duque de Caxais following a tournament game with Simonesia in Ubaporanga.
The club had just won the under-18 trophy in the tournament and even came runners up in the under-16s category.
The driver lost control of the bus whilst crossing a bridge on the BR-116 in Além Paraíba, the result of which was the vehicle and its occupants plunging 32ft into a creek upside down.
3 teenagers between the ages of 14-17 died in the crash, along with one adult, as reported by Brazilian website G1.
One of the survivors, a 16-year-old, told TV Integracao that ‘everyone was sleeping’ when the accident took place. The bus was carrying 31 passengers along with the driver.
5 of the injured received treatment at the Casa de Caridade Leopoldinense, with the other 24 being taken to the Hospital Sao Salvador to be examined.
Sadly, this is not the only incident of its kind in recent years – in March 2020, a bus carrying Guinean second division squad Etoile de Guinee crashed, killing at least 8 people.
And, in 2019, a Turkish mini bus crash claimed the life of Czech international, Josef Sural.
Our thoughts are with the families of the victims of this awful accident.
