17 women among 29 German tourists killed in Portuguese bus crash

LISBON: At least 29 people were killed when a bus carrying German tourists crashed on the Portuguese island of Madeira on Wednesday.

All the victims of a tourist bus accident on the Portuguese island of Madeira  were German nationals.

The tourist bus overturned in a residential area in the coastal town of Canico,  killing at least 17 women and 12 men  in the crash, local media, citing the mayor Filipe Sousa, reported.

"I express the sorrow and solidarity of all the Portuguese people in this tragic moment, and especially for the families of the victims who I have been told were all German," President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa told Portuguese television.

Images from the scene showed the wreckage of the bus which appears to have come off the road and rolled over. Around 50 people are believed to have been on board.

Medical teams were sent to the scene of the crash to carry out autopsies on the dead.

Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa was reportedly said that some of the victims were from Madeira but most were German.