At least 29 killed, 27 injured on Madeira as tour bus overturns after rolling down steep hillside
- Tourists on board were all German, but some pedestrians may have been struck
- Accident happened in residential area in coastal Portuguese town of Canico
At least 29 people, most of them German tourists, died and 27 more were injured in a bus accident on the Portuguese island of Madeira on Wednesday, authorities said.
The bus carrying 55 people rolled down a steep hillside after veering off the road on a bend in the coastal town of Canico and struck at least one house, Mayor Filipe Sousa told cable news channel SIC. It was earlier reported that 17 women and 11 men were killed.
“I have no words to describe what happened. I cannot face the suffering of these people,” Sousa told SIC TV.
He said that the tourists in the bus were all German but that some pedestrians might have been hit by the bus.
Pedro Calado, vice-president of Madeira’s regional government, said that the injured, including the Portuguese driver and a local tour guide, were hospitalised. He did not say whether anyone not on the bus was among the victims.