Verona Bus Accident

[Torcuato Agravante]

Thefire charred the bus. Sixteen people on board the bus were killed and at least 26 sustained injuries, 10 serious and two life-threatening.[4] Some of the bodies of victims were burned beyond recognition, and the investigation team had to take DNA samples of the parents of the deceased victims to identify the bodies. One of the seriously injured victims suffered third-degree burns. He died on 22 March, raising the number of victims to 17.[5] The accident became the most severe foreign bus crash involving Hungarians, along with the 1999 Deutschlandsberg bus crash which also claimed 18 lives.

There were 56 people on board: two drivers, teenage students from the Szinyei Merse Pl Gimnzium [hu] in Budapest and adults accompanying them including one teacher's family, returning from skiing in France.[6][7][8]

The Setra S317 GT-HD coach was travelling on the A4 motorway at San Martino Buon Albergo near Verona, when, for unknown reasons, the vehicle collided with the traffic barrier and then crashed into a bridge pylon.[6] The collision crushed the right side of the coach up until the middle door and it caused a fuel fire almost immediately.[9] With the front door obliterated and the middle door blocked by the pylon, the surviving occupants had to break out windows on the left side to be able to escape; one student ran through the bus breaking windows with a hammer, and was later found dead.[7]

Most people on board were sleeping at the time of the accident.[3] A physical education teacher and his wife returned to the bus several times to rescue students.[6][7] Both of their children died in the accident, and the teacher suffered burn injuries on his back during rescue.Other drivers on the road stopped to help, giving the survivors clothes and blankets, and a cell phone to call families. One driver Lanfranco Fossa stayed for over an hour to help translate for rescue crews, as the students did not speak Italian, only Hungarian and English.[10]

There were reports that a following truck driver had noticed "something wrong" with one of the coach's wheels, and black smoke coming from the rear.[3][6][8] Italian authorities found no braking marks on the scene of the crash.[3]

Hungarian Foreign Minister Pter Szijjrt confirmed that an investigation into the cause of the accident began soon afterwards.[11] According to the Hungarian Foreign Minister, the driver lost control of the coach and that investigators had found no brake marks at the scene.[12] The bus company, Pizolitbusz Ltd, is being investigated; the owner told media the bus had been in good condition.[7]

Analysis of the crash revealed that the barrier placed on the side of the highway did not behave according to the safety regulations: instead of bending and guiding the vehicle back to safety, it broke, causing a punctured wheel and acting like a rail trap carrying the bus into the bridge pylon. There was no reinforcement or doubling in the barrier structure before the dangerously close bridge pylon, as is usual in such locations, and the barrier structure was anchored on soft ground rather than concrete. Light poles mounted dangerously close to the guardrail (inside the deformation zone of the barrier, where they should not have been mounted) were knocked out by the bus, causing an electrical short circuit and igniting leaking fuel.[citation needed]

Italy's State radio reported that a Slovenian truck driver driving behind the bus noticed a problem with one of the wheels of the bus and tried to alert the driver of the bus. The broadcaster continued to report that the Slovenian truck driver stayed at the scene, attempting to help until investigators arrived.[12] Four years later the driver was convicted.

Both the Hungarian Police and the Hungarian Ambulance Service (OMSZ) sent a team to Italy to assist the accident investigation and to help the survivors. To help the survivors and victims' families in coping with the psychological shock after the crash, several Hungarian psychologists travelled to Verona.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbn and Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni expressed condolences for the victims of the accident. The Hungarian government declared 23 January as a national day of mourning in memory of the victims.[13] On that day, Prime Minister Viktor Orbn, President Jnos der, Parliamentary Speaker Lszl Kvr and other officials attended a military ceremony in which the national flag at Kossuth Lajos Square in front of the Hungarian Parliament was raised and then lowered to half-mast.[14] Public institutions including BKV buses displayed a black flag, multiple television stations displayed a black ribbon or a black station logo, and several entertainment venues cancelled concerts and events.[10]

The Italian ambassador to Hungary and hundreds of students, parents and relatives gathered outside the school mourning the accident and paid homage by lighting candles, memorial photos, drawings and laying flowers.[citation needed]

Time has not diminished the memory of Verona's Megan Villanella, a woman struck and killed by a vehicle while standing on the sidewalk only months away from her due date to give birth to her second child.

"Meg was extremely special," her husband Jim Villanella said, days before the anniversary of his wife's death. "She was special. She was unique. She was a lot of different things to a lot of people. She was fantastic at her job. She was a great athlete and a great wife."

She was an exceptional mother as well, he continued. Jim Villanella and his daughter Isabelle, soon to be 3, live together at the Howard Street home they shared with Megan. Along with her brother Derek, Megan Villanella was waiting at a bus stop on Lakeside Avenue when they were hit by a white Mitsubushi. Derek Longo has since made nearly a full recovery.

She received her undergraduate degree cum laud in 2004 from Lafayette College and her Master of Business Administration in international business and marketing from Fordham University in 2012 with a GPA of 3.895.

Jim Villanella described Isabelle as creative, smart and sassy. Together they play plenty of "make believe" games such as when Jim pretends to grill at Isabelle's playhouse. When she told him more people were coming and Jim said he had to make more imaginary chicken, Isabelle reminded him it's just pretend.

Anthony Casale Jr. of Belleville was charged with first-degree death by auto and issued a driving while under the influence summons in Megan Villanella's death. Casale was released from custody in mid-March 2017, indicted that year and now there are a "series of pretrial motions that must be resolved" before the case goes to trial, according to an Essex County Prosecutor's Office spokesperson.

Megan's brother, Derek, still has shoulder pain following the incident. That day he remembers standing on the sidewalk, looking back at his sister, and then nothing else. Though he was back at work three weeks later, Longo said he barely remembers the months of March through June due to the head injury sustained in the accident.

Through it all the family has persevered. Jim Villanella, a 37-year-old Paramus native who works as a digital strategist at Bayer, said he was overwhelmed by the support from family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, people at daycare and more.

Megan Villanella was also remembered at MetLife, her employer. An award for marketing excellence named after her will debut at the company this year, her colleague Cynthia Ko-Baek said. Ko-Baek was Megan's manager and admired her confidence and intellect at work.

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Auto accidents are known to cause a variety of injuries that may not be readily apparent directly after the collision. These injuries can include sprains and strains, herniated discs and whiplash. The good news is that Dr. Sam provides auto accident injury treatments for individuals who have recently or not so recently been in a collision.

When you are in a car accident, your body ricochets between the seatbelt and seat, which can cause whiplash. If you have your hands on the steering wheel or stick-shift, your wrist may experience sprains and strains, and your knees may impact the dash, causing bruising and injuries to the knees. You may also experience shoulder injuries from being held back by the seatbelt and herniated discs in your lower back and neck.

Depending on your auto accident injury, you may experience a wide range of symptoms. If you have whiplash, you may experience an increase in headaches, a stiff or sore neck and sensitivity to light and sound. In severe instances, you may also experience pain and soreness in your upper back and tingling down one or both arms.

If you have a joint injury in your knees, wrists or shoulders, you may experience pain, inflammation, and loss of range of motion. If you experience a herniated disc during your accident, you may have pain in the area of the disc herniation as well as pain that radiates into the legs.

Chiropractic adjustments and our chiropractic care modalities are used to treat joint misalignments in the back, neck and extremity joints. These treatments help decrease healing times, reduce inflammation and improve the range of motion of the joints.

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