Bus crash on Cape Verde island of Fogo leaves 25 dead after ravine plunge

Crash in the Fogo highlands

A bus carrying 32 passengers veered off the road and plummeted approximately 30 metres into a steep, rocky ravine on Saturday evening. The incident occurred on the mountainous road connecting Cha das Caldeiras and Campanas de Cima, located in the northern municipality of Santa Catarina do Fogo. The vehicle was transporting passengers, predominantly primary and secondary school pupils, returning to Sao Filipe following an excursion near the Pico do Fogo volcano. Civil protection and rescue teams faced complicated salvage operations because the wreckage landed on rocky terrain that emergency vehicles could not immediately reach.

Casualty toll and hospital response

Health authorities confirmed that 25 people died in the crash, which Minister of Health Lucio Miranda identified as the deadliest single-day road accident recorded in Cape Verde. Nineteen children and teenagers, consisting of eight girls and eleven boys, were initially treated at the emergency department of Sao Francisco de Assis Regional Hospital on Fogo. Five of those victims succumbed to severe traumatic brain injuries, according to medical director Dionisio Semedo. The surviving patients, aged between six and 16 years, sustained polytrauma with extensive injuries to their lower limbs. By Sunday, 14 patients remained hospitalized, four of whom were in critical condition.

We must provide the greatest possible support in the coming days.

To reinforce the island's medical capacity, off-duty doctors and private clinic personnel joined the local staff, while the central government mobilized a specialized medical team from the islands of Santiago and Sao Vicente. The reinforcement team included specialists in neurosurgery, general surgery, intensive care, anesthesiology, and cardiology, along with intensive care nurses to assess patients requiring medical evacuation to Santiago. The Cape Verdean Red Cross also dispatched a pre-hospital emergency crew to support relief and medical operations.

National mourning and state support

The central government and the Sao Filipe municipal council each declared two days of official mourning for the victims. On Sunday, a mass funeral was held at Sao Lourenco Church in the town of Sao Lourenco, with 18 coffins present at the service. Local health authorities stated that seven other victims were buried immediately due to their physical condition. Health Minister Lucio Miranda announced after a crisis cabinet meeting that the national government will pay for all victim funerals, finance travel costs for immediate family members journeying from Praia to Fogo, and cover the transfer of one deceased victim to the capital.

President Jose Maria Neves traveled to the island on Sunday to visit the hospital and meet with bereaved relatives, emphasizing the need for psychological support across the community alongside a formal inquiry into the mechanical and situational causes of the crash.

I offer my condolences to the bereaved families, to the friends of the victims, and to the island of Fogo. I wish a speedy recovery to the injured. My friendship and solidarity with all those involved in this tragic accident.

Origin of the excursion

Local education authorities confirmed that the journey had no formal connection to local school curricula. Jose Pedro Goncalves, the Ministry of Education delegate in Sao Filipe, explained that the excursion was a private annual tradition organized by the bus driver before the resumption of classes, providing students with a recreational outing. The driver died in the crash alongside the young passengers. Public figures across the diaspora also responded to the tragedy, including Cape Verde national football team goalkeeper Josimar Jose Evora Dias, who plays for Colo-Colo in Chile and shared condolences with the affected families.