Lusa - Business News - Portugal: Germany's foreign minister lays wreath at site of Madeira bus accident

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Lusa - Business News - Portugal: Germany's foreign minister lays wreath at site of Madeira bus accident

Funchal, Portugal, Apr. 18, 2019 (Lusa) – The foreign ministers of Portugal and Germany on Thursday visited the site of the accident on Wednesday in which 29 people died in Caniço, on the island of Madeira, depositing two wreaths.
Germany’s Heiko Maas deposited a wreath of white roses and anthuriums next to the railings that have been placed along the roadside where the tour bus crashed.
A wreath of lilies, roses and orchids - all white – was also placed at the site from the municipality of Santa Cruz, where the accident occurred.
Maas had flown into Madeira’s Cristiano Ronaldo Airport, landing a few minutes after 7pm, where he was received by his Portuguese counterpart, Augusto Santos Silva. Their motorcade arrived at the site of the accident at 7.15pm.
The wreath laying was marked by a minute of silence by those present, despite the crush of local and foreign journalists covering the event.
Afterwards, Maas spoke in German to the journalists that had flown into Madeira, while Santos Silva told local reporters that relations between the two countries will continue as "excellent" as they have been until now. He also praised the support given to the victims, saying that "the first aid was exceptionally effective", with rescue workers reaching the site "less than 30 minutes after the accident" and all the injured being taken to hospital within an hour and a half.
The ministers then went on to Funchal’s Dr. Nélio Mendonça Hospital, arriving at 7.45pm, to visit those who are still being cared for after the accident.
At least 29 people died in the accident involving a bus that was carrying German tourists in Caniço, in Santa Cruz, on Wednesday afternoon. The dead - 11 men and 18 women - are all German nationals.
One of the victims died in hospital, where 28 injured people were admitted after the accident. Two are Portuguese: the driver and a tour guide.
According to a statement on Thursday morning by the regional health authorities, eight victims have now left hospital and 19 remain there.
Santos Silva and the vice-president of Madeira’s regional government, Pedro Calado, said earlier that the two Portuguese were "stable" and also that none of the other injured were in life-threatening condition.

FYM/ARO // ARO.
Lusa

Agency : LUSA
Date : 2019-04-20 12:22:07

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