Holiday bus horror
28 are killed on Madeira as packed tourist coach topples down hillside
AT least 28 people died when a tourist bus plunged down a steep hillside on the Portuguese holiday island of Madeira last night.
The victims included 17 women and 11 men, and another 22 were injured.
Local mayor Filipe Sousa said most of those on the bus were German tourists and it is not yet known whether any other nationalities were involved.
The Foreign Office said it was seeking information from the authorities in Portugal about the crash in Madeira and is ‘ready to support any British people who require assistance’.
The bus had 55 on board when it veered off a road on a bend east of the capital Funchal before rolling down a hillside. The authorities said they were investigating the possible cause.
Local residents said the weather was fine at the time of the accident, which happened while it was still light in the early evening.
The bus overturned near a remote hotel, the Quinta Splendida Wellness and Botanical Garden. A receptionist at the hotel confirmed the accident but said none of the hotel’s guests had been involved.
The emergency services were first contacted around 6.30pm local time and at least 14 ambulances attended the crash site.
A massive cordon was set up, while shocked locals gathered nearby. the walking Distressing wounded video being showed helped away from the scene by emergency responders. Several survivors were sitting by the side of the road.
Mr Sousa said: ‘I have no words to describe what happened.
‘I cannot face the suffering of these people.’
The country’s president Marcelo Sousa was reportedly heading to Madeira on a Portuguese Air Force plane the Albuquerque, he and government last local night. officials said of The Madeira, in a president were statement Miguel ‘saddened’ of relatives offered of the condolences victims. to the The horrific crash came after two Britons died in a buggy accident on the Greek island of Santorini on Sunday. A man and a woman, said to be in their 20s, fell into a 650ft ravine while driving on the Profitis Ilias mountain, according to local media. The peak is the highest point on the island, which is extremely popular with British holidaymakers.
The driver is believed to have lost control of the rented buggy before it fell in the ravine.
Fire crews raced to rescue the pair but they were difficult to reach because of the extremely rocky terrain.
The cause of the accident has yet to be determined.
The Foreign Office said: ‘ Our staff are assisting the families of two British people who have died on the island of Santorini and are in contact with the Greek authorities.’
A young man died in the same area last year, leading locals to describe the road as a ‘death trap’, according to local media.
And a Dutch tourist was killed in a quad bike accident last July after she collided with a motorcyclist trying to overtake a bus on the other side of the road.
Wilma Kippers, 26, from Wierden, near the German border, crashed into the motorbike before hitting the bus.