Rescuers wielding electric saws cut through the twisted wreckage of the bus overnight, looking for survivors after it had plunged to the ground yesterday night. At least 10-meters of the wall was torn away, large chunks were visible in a clearing below.
The bus lost control near the town of Monteforte Irpino in Irpinia, a largely agricultural area about 40 miles (60 kilometres) inland from Naples and about 250 kilometres (160 miles) south of Rome, hitting several cars before plunging off the viaduct. Traffic on the stretch was slowed due to road work, officials said.
A reporter for Naples daily Il Mattino, Giuseppe Crimaldi, told Sky TG24 TV from the scene that some witnesses told him the bus had been going at a "normal" speed on the downhill stretch of the highway when it suddenly veered and started hitting cars. Some witnesses thought they heard a noise as if the bus had blown a tire.