A bus crash near Padua, in northern Italy, early today killed at least four people from a group of retired Italian police and their families, rescue services said.

Initial reports said that the bus, which was carrying around 20 people, smashed through a barrier alongside the A13 highway, plunged around 50 metres (yards) down an embankment, and came to a stop next to a canal near the town of Legnario.

The victims were three men and a woman.

An undetermined number of other passengers were injured, according to local police and fire fighters, with some still stuck inside the wreckage.

The bus was headed to a national gathering of the Italian paramilitary force, the carabinieri.