Tourists killed in bus crash in Madeira
At least 29 people have been killed, and 27 more injured, in a road accident in Madeira.
At 18:30 (17:30 GMT) last night (17 April), a bus carrying German tourists plunged off a road and overturned, after the driver lost control of the vehicle at a junction. It is believed that some local pedestrians may have been hit by the vehicle.
The mayor of Caniço, Filipe Sousa, told broadcaster SIC TV that 11 of the fatalities were men and 17 were women. "I have no words to describe what happened. I cannot face the suffering of these people," he said.
SAM, the transport company that owns the bus, said that it will work with authorities to determine the cause of the crash. "It's our will and our determination that all the facts, reasons and responsibilities surrounding the accident are investigated," it wrote in a statement cited by Portuguese news agency Lusa.
German Government spokesman Steffen Seibert tweeted his condolences: "Our deep sorrow goes to all those who lost their lives in the bus accident, our thoughts are with the injured."