Cape Verde “lived one of the most painful nights in its history”. A tragic bus accident killed 25 people and injured almost two dozen. Among the victims are several young people and children, who went on a “student tour”.
© X / Radio Capital Fm
06/09/2026
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Set of the 25 fatalities of the serious traffic accident occurred on Saturday night, September 5, in the Campanas area, on the island of Fogo, in Cape Verde have already been buried.
According to the local site The Nation, the bodies were buried during the early hours of Sunday, September 6, “in an environment of deep commotion and pain that mobilized family members and hundreds of popular people”, in the Cemetery of São Lourenço.
The decision to perform some of the burials in the early hours of the morning was, according to this newspaper, arrested with logistical procedures and requests of the grieving families themselves.
However, other Cape Verdean means say it was due to the state of the bodies.
The remaining funeral ceremonies will take place throughout today, in various councils of the island.
The municipal and health authorities are currently providing psychological support to the survivors and relatives of the victims.
At the same time, the authorities try to understand in what circumstances the accident occurred, which led the bus to fall from a 30-metre-high ravine when it returned with a group of students on a walk to Chã das Caldeiras.
In the accident car, about three dozen young and adolescent followed, accompanied by some adults.
Driver is one of the fatalities. “Djedjin was an esteemed man”
On social networks there are already many reactions to the tragic accident that, according to the site Kryolu Wave is the “most serious in the history of Cape de Verde”.
The publication says that the island of “Fire lived [ yesterday] one of the most painful nights in its history”.
The bus driver, Henrique Cardoso, known on the island by the name of Djedjino, is one of the fatal victims of the accident. “Djedjin was an esteemed man in his community and, every year, before or at the end of the school year, he organized tours for students he carried during the school period,” says Onda Kriolu.
The remaining victims are “especially children and adolescents from groups III and IV of Corral Grande and Ponta Verde”.
There were also catechists and members of Cape Verdean coral groups.
It should be remembered that, for reasons still to be established, on Saturday night, a bus “carrying students on a walk” went off the road and fell from a height of about 30 meters, in the town of Campanas de Cima, in the municipality of Santa Catarina do Fogo.
Cape of Green is grieving. “A great catastrophe”
The President of the Republic, José Maria Neves, has already expressed regret for the tragedy and said that Cape Verde is in mourning.
“ A real tragedy, whose causes I still don't know. I extend my condolences to the grieving families, the friends of the victims and the island of Fire. I wish the wounded a swift recovery. My friendship and solidarity with everyone involved in this tragic accident [...]. A great catastrophe”, he wrote on his Facebook page.
The Municipality of São Filipe declared two days of municipal mourning, in honor of the victims and in solidarity with the families affected.