Report: Rescuers say at least 24 dead in bus plunge off southern Italy highway

ROME – Rescuers are saying that at least 24 bodies have been pulled out of the mangled wreckage of a tour bus that plunged dozens of yards (meters ) off a major highway in southern Italy after slamming into several cars.

The bus landed in a ravine.

The Italian news agency ANSA quoted firefighters among the rescuers as also saying at least 11 people were injured in the crash Sunday night on the 116 autostrada near Avellino, some 160 miles (250 kilometres) south of Rome.

Italian TV quoted people at the scene as saying about 49 people were on the bus, which was reportedly filled with Italian pilgrims returning from an excursion elsewhere in the south.

Highway police said the bus crashed into cars that had been slowed by heavy traffic.