According to a local newspaper, the driver of the madeira bus accident has attributed the accident with 29 fatalities to a "technical failure" of his vehicle.
The regional newspaper "jornal da madeira" referred in its report to a representative of the transport union on the portuguese vacation island, who visited the 55-year-old in the hospital of the island's capital funchal. The relevant authorities did not release any information on the ongoing investigation for the time being.
The injured bus driver is considered very experienced and reliable, according to portuguese media reports. The man had been subjected to an alcohol test immediately after the accident in funchal, which according to official reports was negative. Before the accident, according to survivors and eyewitnesses, he tried to slow down the speed of the accelerating bus on the winding road by, among other things, hitting a concrete wall at the edge of the road.
The attempt failed. The bus fell down a slope and crashed into a house. The accident killed 29 tourists, all of whom were from germany, according to previous findings. But the identity of the 29 people killed was still unclear after the autopsy. Over the weekend, files containing fingerprints and dental data were expected to arrive from germany to enable final identification.
When details about the victims and their places of origin will be announced remained open on sunday. The transfer of the bodies will probably take place "already in the next few days" after the identification is completed, regional health secretary pedro ramos told journalists.
Meanwhile, the survivors brought back to germany by the german armed forces made it home on saturday in a special army plane without any problems. "The 15 patients are doing well according to the circumstances. The first patients will be transferred to hospitals near their homes over the easter weekend," reported the director of the accident clinic in koln-merheim, bertil bouillon, on easter sunday.
Three people were still injured in the hospital in funchal: in addition to the driver of the crashed bus, a woman from germany who, according to the doctors, was not yet fit for transport, as well as the tour guide. The 32-year-old portuguese woman, who broke her leg in the accident, thanked on facebook for the participation and the many wishes of recovery.