Tragedy in Portugal: the government has decreed three days of mourning after the death of 29 German tourists

In a statement, the executive reported that the Council of Ministers approved declared to have three days of mourning as of today, "to express the sadness and solidarity of the whole of the national population with the victims and their families ".

The incident occurred in the town of Caniço, near the capital of the island, Funchal, when the bus of a tourist company left the road and fell a dozen meters lower on a house built on a hillside.

The accident, whose reasons are still unknown, caused the death of 28 people, all German, at the scene of the accident, which was added after the death of a woman of the same nationality who was hospitalized in the intensive care unit of the hospital. Funchal. In the accident, 11 men and 18 women of German nationality died, most of them between 40 and 50 years old.

According to the latest medical report, four of the 27 wounded are still in intensive care today, eight in trauma and one in mid-surgery, while nine have already been released.

Among the wounded are two Portuguese who, according to local media, would be the bus driver and the tourist guide.

The rest of the wounded, like all the dead, are of German nationality, tourists being part of a group that was visiting the island.

The Institute of Forensic Medicine, in charge of autopsies, has indicated that it expects that by now to Saturday "they can initiate the processes of identification and submission of body".

The prosecutor's office is investigating the circumstances of the accident, although local media cite witnesses who mention a possible brake problem that would have brought the bus in which tourists were traveling to leave the road and rush into a House..

The victims were staying at the hotel Quinta Espléndida, located in the town of Caniço, a few meters from the scene of the accident and where a support center for family members was installed.

The accident is the worst memory in Madeira and this has been a real upheaval for society and the political clbad, which continues to convey its condolences to Lisbon and Berlin.

The last comes from the German Foreign Minister, Heiko Maas, who said on Twitter that the incident "strikes us with great force". Yesterday evening, the Prime Minister of Portugal, António Costahe called the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, to express your condolences.

"It is with deep regret that I am aware of the tragic accident in Madeira," lamented the head of the Socialist Government.

"On behalf of the Portuguese Government, I extend my deepest condolences to all those affected and have also had the opportunity to convey all my regrets to Chancellor Angela Merkel in these difficult times", he added.

Located about 500 km from the Moroccan coast, the Portuguese island of Madeira, nicknamed "the pearl of the Atlantic", attracts thousands of foreign tourists each year, half of whom are British, with volcanic landscapes and mild climate. or Germans.

The archipelago, made up of two main islands – Madeira and Porto Santo – has 270,000 inhabitants, more than 130,000 of whom live in Funchal, the regional capital, and whose coast is entirely urbanized with luxury hotels and hotels. hotel complexes.

(With information from EFE and AFP)