At least 25 people, mostly teenagers, have died after a passenger bus crashed on Cape Verde’s Fogo Island, officials and local media reported Sunday.
The accident happened Saturday on the Campanas de Cima route, a mountainous area of the island.
Several other people were injured in the crash, according to officials.
Accident happened on mountainous route
The bus was travelling along the Campanas de Cima route when the accident occurred.
The area is located in the mountainous interior of Fogo Island, one of the islands that make up Cape Verde, an Atlantic island nation off the west coast of Africa.
Authorities have not yet determined what caused the bus to crash.
An investigation into the accident is expected to establish the circumstances surrounding the incident.
Most of those killed were teenagers
Local officials and media reported that most of the people who died were teenagers.
The number of injured people has not yet been fully detailed in the information released by authorities.
The scale of the death toll made the crash one of the country’s major recent tragedies.
Seven bodies buried immediately
The condition of some of the victims created additional difficulties following the crash.
According to local media reports citing health authorities on Fogo Island, seven bodies were buried immediately because of their condition.
The reports did not provide further details about the condition of the bodies.
Cape Verde president calls it a catastrophe
Cape Verde President José Maria Pereira Neves described the incident as “a great catastrophe” in a statement posted on Facebook.
The president and other officials were expected to travel to Fogo Island on Sunday following the crash.
Their visit comes as authorities continue to assess the aftermath and investigate what happened.
Cause of crash remains unknown
Authorities have not yet announced a cause for the accident.
The investigation will determine what led to the passenger bus crashing on the mountainous Campanas de Cima route.
Further information about the victims, injured passengers and circumstances of the crash may be released as officials continue their work.
For now, authorities have confirmed that at least 25 people died, with teenagers making up most of those killed, while several others were injured.
