Case Study: Tragedy in Madeira

Maximilian Cling

My name is Maximilian Cling, Operations Manager for the German company TOHR Weltweite Überführungen. I started this journey back in 2004, and over the years I have had personal input into approximately 15,000 repatriations; I’ve accumulated vast expertise in this sector, and consider myself a true specialist. I am a married father of two and recently built a new house for the family… and they lived happily ever after.

Well… the lines between life and death are often blurred and razor-thin, so from that idyllic scene, we must probably go back to the headline, to that tragedy.

On 17 April 2019, a terrible accident occurred, where a bus lost control on one of Madeira’s twisty roads, crashing down a steep hill.

Madeira, as an autonomous region of Portugal, is an archipelago situated in the North Atlantic Ocean, just under 400 kilometres (250 miles) to the north of the Canary Islands and 520 kilometres (320 miles) west of the Kingdom of Morocco. It’s a popular year-round resort, particularly for fellow Portuguese, but also British (148,000 visits in 2021), and Germans (113,000). It is by far the most densely populated Portuguese island. The region is noted for its Madeira wine, flora and fauna, and is also known as the ‘Flower Island’.

‘Madeira is tradition’ – that was the imprint in large letters on the side of the bus. For the families of the 29 fatalities that died in the accident, all of them German, this tradition will forever leave a very sad taste in the mouth.

Twenty-eight people died immediately, one later in a local hospital, and 27 were seriously injured but survived the horror. The severity of the accident is already reflected in these numbers. The island is a tourist spot and prepared for repatriations, but that number was a real shock to its capacities.

It was on the Good Friday of the Easter holiday when it became clear that we would be commissioned and authorised to help with all of the cases.

That was also the day when our professional partner for this region, Canarias Contact Repatriations, represented by its owner, Tatjana Willhelmi, based in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (the biggest city in the Canary Islands), became involved.

To begin with, we both dug out our existing ‘mass disaster’ plans and protocols, which fortunately had been barely used before. Plans and protocols are good and useful in theory, but the gap between plans and practice is undeniable. One thing led to another and soon we were in the middle of everything.

As I sit here, trying to recap everything, and re-reading a few of the approximately 1,500 emails that were written within only a few days of the incident, it is difficult to know what to recount. It was a demanding mission for everybody. I am still impressed by the operational standards, quick and close communication, and the level of helpfulness involved.

However, the story won’t be complete without at least a few details.

At the scene, along with our partners, we quickly found ourselves as members of several crisis management groups, with teams also consisting of representatives from the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Portuguese authorities including military structures, the tour operator, diverse insurance and assistance companies, the Portuguese funeral group Servilusa, supported by local funeral directors on the island, medico-legal experts, as well as pathologists and embalmers. There was a lot to do. There was the sensitive aspect of having to contact all next of kin and the respective funeral directors all over Germany who would take care of the local burials after the repatriations, especially as the usual documents (like ID copies, birth, marriage, divorce and (spouses) death certificates) were needed, completed by authorizations and official forms, that the legal next of kin had to complete and to sign. Particular attention was paid to a well-structured and documented identification of each case, especially as the likelihood of confusion was at an increased risk because of the number of people who had lost their lives. Locally, some identification even had to take place with DNA samples or orthodontic statements.

This pedantic planning persisted after everything local was finished. After endless overtime hours, not just of the local funeral staff, but also of the authorities for issuing all the correct paperwork, we ended up having all coffins loaded into a Hercules C-130 from the Portuguese military, flying twice to Frankfurt International Airport. We even had the rare permission of being allowed to work night operations.

Our hearses and staff were also granted permission to drive directly on to the landing field, which was another very rare but necessary exception. From FRA (the airport's IATA code), we were radiating in all directions, having logistically optimised, to finally bring them all home into the care of the local funeral directors.

As a last word, I’d like to take this opportunity to express my sincere appreciation for the support, professional cooperation, and great efforts that were made by everyone involved.
Thank you. 

Tatjana Willhelmi

My name is Tatjana Willhelmi and I am the Head of the International Repatriations Department of Canarias Contact Repatriations, based in the Canary Islands. I am German, but born and raised in Spain, and I speak German, Spanish, English and French fluently, plus some Portuguese. I consider myself open minded due to my multicultural background. Twenty-five years of experience have shown me how important it is to provide support to the relatives of tragedies, and to give them the reassuring feeling that someone cares and will take all the administrative and organisational steps of a repatriation out of their hands. My commitment is to offer reliable, competent and professional support not only to the families, but also to the insurance and assistance companies by optimising costs, providing daily updates, and offering a comprehensive repatriation service.

When my colleague Maximilian called me a few days after the tragedy in Madeira to confirm that we would arrange the transfers from Funchal to Frankfurt, everything got underway very quickly. TOHR Weltweite Überführungen provided us with all the usual documents from the next of kin from Germany, and although the almost immediate transfer of the 29 deceased was the top priority, conscientious work had to be done on the ground to avoid any delays or mistakes. This required the support of the local authorities, who provided additional personnel to speed up the documentation process, and of all of the funeral directors – as the identification of the coffins and associated documents was very important. After 72 very labour-intensive hours, most of the coffins were loaded on the aircraft to Frankfurt and the others the next day.

Looking back, I was impressed to see how the multidisciplinary team that we put together in the twinkling of an eye worked hand-in-hand to repatriate the 29 victims in record time, and I also realised how important it is to have a network of reliable partners that give an immediate response.

As well as Maximilian, I would like to sincerely thank the local funeral directors and authorities and all other involved parties for their efforts and support.
Thank you.