MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 18th April, 2019) The civil protection organization of the Portuguese island of Madeira said that 28 people had been killed and 28 others had been injured in a bus crash in the island's Santa Cruz area, local media have reported.
The agency's head said, as cited by the Lusa news agency, that those injured had been taken to the Funchal hospital.
The accident occurred at around 06:30 p.m. local time (17:30 GMT) on Wednesday. The bus reportedly swerved off the road and fell on a roof of a residential building located near it.
The German Foreign Ministry confirmed that those killed in the accident were German citizens.
Late on Wednesday, Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa expressed condolences over the incident to German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
The German government spokesman, Steffen Seibert, wrote on Twitter that Berlin conveyed its condolences to those affected by the crash, adding that "our thoughts are with those injured."
Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa has offered his sympathy to the families of the accident victims. The president said he had initially planned to fly to Madeira but had subsequently decided to put off his trip to allow for his plane to be used for transporting those injured in the crash.
Rebelo de Sousa added he would get in touch with his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier soon.
