ATHENS — The Athens prosecutor’s office is investigating the reason a city bus on the Faliro coastal highway area was trapped and submerged in flood waters under a pass during the torrential rain on Thursday, it said on Friday.

Photographs of the bus made the local and international news, showing passengers trying to wade through water a meter (3.3 feet) deep by formin a human chain, for fear of being carried away.

The case was assigned to criminal prosecution head Antonis Eleftherianos, who will examine among other issues whether every agency responsible has carried out needed antiflooding projects property and whether safety measures were observed.

According to OSY, Road Transporation SA, the city bus was heading from Voula to Piraeus. “At 14:45, at the bridge of the old coastal road to Piraeus (at the “Stavros Niarchos” Foundation area),” it said, “and while the vehicle was carrying out its schedule as usual, since there was no ban on through traffic, a large volume of water from nearby projects started flooding the bridge [underpass] in a few minutes, and the engine shut down. Immediately and calmly, the driver let the passengers off and informed the Fire Brigade, as well as the relevant department of the company.”

According to reporters present at the site, the vehicle had over 25 passengers. The driver saw them off before he abandoned the bus, which by that time was half submerged in water.