Teenagers and children among at least 25 killed after bus plunges into ravine on Cape Verde island

At least 25 people, many of them teenagers, have been killed after a bus plunged into a ravine on Fogo, one of Cape Verde’s islands.

The accident occurred on the Campanas de Cima route, a mountainous area in Fogo Island, late on Saturday. A passenger bus veered off the road and plunged about 30 metres into a steep ravine.

Cape Verde's government has announced two days of mourning and the president José Maria Pereira Neves called the accident "a great catastrophe".

Stark images showed a mass funeral for those who had died taking place at Sao Lourenco Church in the town of Sao Lourenco on Sunday. Many of ⁠those on board were primary and secondary school students, local media reported.

Residents and relatives were pictured carrying the coffin of one the victims killed in a bus crash during the funeral. 18 coffins were on display at the wrought service.

Seven bodies were immediately buried due to their condition, local media report citing the island's health authorities. The cause of the accident is yet to be determined by the authorities.

Several injured passengers were taken to Sao Francisco de Assis Regional Hospital on Fogo.

Education ‌officials said the ​outing was not organised ‌by local schools ⁠but was an annual ⁠trip privately arranged by the driver, who ‌was ​among those killed, the national news agency ‌Inforpress said.

Fogo is one of the southernmost islands in Cape Verde, an archipelagic country in the eastern Atlantic Ocean off the coast of West Africa.

Cape Verde president Jose Maria Pereira Neves said in a statement on Facebook: “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.”