Cabo Verde Bus Crash Kills Children on Fogo Island

A bus crash on Cape Verde’s Fogo Island killed at least 25 people, most of them children and teenagers, according to the public radio network RCV. The accident occurred on Saturday as the bus was returning to the city of Sao Filipe after an excursion to the Pico do Fogo volcanic crater. The vehicle veered off the road and plunged into a deep ravine. Thirty-two people were aboard, meaning several survivors were injured; local authorities said some of the injured were in serious condition. The driver was among those killed. He had organized the annual excursion as a gift for pupils he transported to school during the academic year. The crash site was in a rocky, difficult-to-access valley, complicating rescue operations. Emergency responders worked through the night to reach and extract victims who were trapped inside the wreckage. Burial ceremonies began early Sunday, with seven victims buried. The remaining victims were expected to be buried later that day. Cape Verdean President José Maria Pereira Neves described the incident as “a great catastrophe” in a statement posted on Facebook. The president and other government officials were expected to travel to Fogo Island to visit the crash site and affected communities. The report, attributed to RCV, local authorities, and a local news agency, focuses on the scale of the loss, the young age of most victims, the difficult rescue effort, and the official response following one of the country’s most serious recent tragedies.

At least 25 people, most of them children and teenagers, were killed in a bus crash on Cabo Verde’s Fogo Island, according to the country’s public radio network, RCV. The accident occurred on Saturday as a bus carrying 32 passengers returned to Sao Filipe after an excursion to Cha das Caldeiras, a village located inside the Pico do Fogo volcanic crater. Local officials said the bus veered off the road and plunged into a deep ravine. Several passengers were injured, some seriously, according to Jose Canuto, head of civil protection for Sao Filipe city. Emergency personnel worked overnight to reach and rescue victims trapped in the wreckage, which came to rest in a rocky valley that is difficult to access. The dead included the bus driver, who had organised the annual excursion as a gift for the pupils he drove to school during the academic year. The trip was intended to take students to the archipelago’s distinctive volcanic landscape. Authorities described the crash as unusual because serious road incidents are rare in Cabo Verde, a West African island nation where roads are generally considered to be in good condition. The article does not provide details about the cause of the bus leaving the road, the identities of the victims, or the condition of all those injured. The report is based on statements from RCV, Canuto and other local authorities, and was published by Agence France-Presse.

At least 25 people were killed when a bus crashed on the island of Fogo in Cape Verde, according to the national news agency Inforpress. Many of the victims were reportedly schoolchildren and teenagers. The accident occurred late on Saturday on a mountain road in northern Fogo, an island in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of West Africa. The bus veered off the road and plunged approximately 30 metres into a steep ravine. Several passengers survived but were injured and transported to Sao Francisco de Assis Regional Hospital on Fogo for treatment. The report did not provide further details about the number or severity of the injuries. Education officials said the trip was not organised by local schools. Instead, it was described as an annual outing privately arranged by the bus driver, who was among those killed in the crash. Many of those travelling were primary and secondary school students. The report was filed from Lisbon and attributed to Reuters, citing Inforpress. The article provides no information about the cause of the bus veering off the road, the identities of the victims, or whether authorities had begun a formal investigation. The crash represents a major loss of life, particularly among young people, and has affected multiple communities on Fogo. The available account focuses on the number of fatalities, the location and circumstances of the crash, the treatment of survivors, and clarification that the outing was privately organised rather than an official school activity.