Fogo Bus Crash: Relatives Reach Island After Mass Funerals
Grief-stricken relatives are descending on the Cape Verdean island of Fogo today, arriving just hours after the mass burial of 25 victims killed in a devastating bus crash. For many, the journey is a heartbreaking race they already lost; limited transportation options meant they could not reach the island in time to say their final goodbyes.
Missing the Last Farewell
Tatiana de Pina, 31, stood at Praia airport today, her face etched with the exhaustion of loss and travel delays. She lost seven family members in the tragedy—an uncle, cousins, and nephews. Despite rushing to the airport on Sunday, she was unable to secure a seat on the few available flights.
“There are seven who have already been buried, and we weren’t able to be with them in this moment of such great pain,” she told Lusa. “If we had more transport, we could have gone yesterday morning for the funeral.”
De Pina, who had not visited Fogo in a decade, learned of the accident from her father in the United States. She described the ill-fated trip as a routine annual tradition. The bus driver, who transported students throughout the school year, organized the outing every summer to celebrate the end of the term. “They were ambitious young people; others were finishing school,” she said.
Families Divided by Logistics
The tragedy has sparked a logistical crisis in the archipelago. As the scale of the disaster became clear, the Cape Verdean government pledged to facilitate travel for direct relatives between the capital, Praia, and Fogo. The airline CVSky added extra flights on Sunday night to accommodate the influx of mourning families and support teams.
For Luis Lopes, 25, the government’s efforts came too late for the ceremony. He lost five relatives in the crash, while two others remain hospitalized. “When I arrive, I won’t find a funeral. Everything happened yesterday,” he said. He is traveling now solely to support his mother, who has been left alone to process the tragedy. “They were practically my brothers, incredible people,” he added.
A Community in Mourning
The victims were laid to rest in a somber series of burials on Sunday. Seven funerals were held in the early hours of the morning, followed by another 18 later that day. The accident occurred Saturday when a bus carrying students veered off a road in Campanas de Cima, plunging 30 meters down a steep slope.
Aldina Correia, 70, traveled today to mourn two nephews, despite living away from Fogo for nearly five decades. “This had never happened in our land,” she lamented. Meanwhile, José Moeda, 66, flew in from the United States after seeing the news on social media. “I feel very sad… there is nothing we can do. I’m going to visit the family,” he said.
The Cape Verdean government has declared two days of national mourning as the island of Fogo grapples with the aftermath of one of the deadliest road accidents in the country’s history. Dozens more remain injured at the São Francisco de Assis Regional Hospital, with the community still reeling from the loss of an entire generation of “ambitious young people.”
Image: Pexels – damien Saillet
