The heroes of the Mestre disaster, the two African workers in the flames to save the people trapped in the sheets of metal

A strong braking, desperate screams, then silence. The witnesses who witnessed the bus accident, which crashed from the overpass in Mestre yesterday evening – causing 21 victims and 15 injured, 5 of them seriously – they reported having heard a very loud noise, a roar, the frightening noise of the impact.

“I was alarmed and when I looked out I saw smoke and heard people screaming for help,” he said LaPresse a witness, Leonardo, who was in a room at the time of the bus crash and rushed out to understand what had happened. «As I was reaching the bus, the screams turned into a creepy dead silencewhich stopped my blood. I wanted to help but I was blocked by a friend of mine and a policewoman, because the bus was still on fire and at risk of explosion. I then remained there until help arrived, which arrived after about twenty minutes.”

Also Godstime Erheneden and friend Boubakar Toure, two Fincantieri workers, thirty-year-olds, of African origin, who live in Mestre near the crash site, rushed into the street after hearing a very loud noise: they thought it was an earthquake. Among the sheets of metal, the two heard the screams of those who, although stuck in the wreckage of the bus, were still alive. And they decided to face the flames in order to provide aid to the victims. «I heard people screaming trapped in the middle of the sheets of metal: they were asking for help. We pulled out first a woman with her little girl and then a man. Then I also brought out a dog. They all seemed alive. Then I looked among that wreckage and saw the driver: he was already dead.”

Godstime adds: «There was a woman who spoke English and was crying: while I took her out she said: “Take my daughter, take my daughter”. She was a little girl, I think she was two years old. She was unconscious, I suspect she was dead. I’m shocked: she’s my son’s age. It’s as if I’ve lost him.” Boubakar, who became a father a few days ago, burned his hands while helping: «I wanted to save those people who were screaming again, but the flames were growing and became too high. I had to give up».

Source: Vanity Fair

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