Portugal bus accident vctims returning to Netherlands

By Janene Pieters on June 18, 2015 - 13:55
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Bus crashes in Portugal, killing 3 Dutch tourists (Picture: Twitter/@oguardador). Bus crashes in Portugal, killing 3 Dutch tourists (Picture: Twitter/@oguardador)

Some of the victims of the last night are flying back to the Netherlands on Thursday afternoon, travel agency TUI announced. TUI has made a plane available from Faro to Amsterdam for them. It is not clear how many people will make use of it.

A number of the victims' relatives will also be traveling to Portugal on Thursday, this flight is arranged by alarm central SOS International, AD reports. A SOS International team will also be on this flight to offer assistance to victims and relatives.

The bus accident happened around midnight on the A22 highway from the Faro airport in the direction of Portimao. It is believed that the accident was caused by the bus driver becoming unwell. He was able to call the emergency services, but is now in hospital. His condition is unclear.

The bus was transporting Dutch tourists to their hotels when the accident happened. Three of these tourists, one man and two women, were killed and 26 were injured, three of them seriously. The injured passengers were transported to hospitals in the area, 11 of them has since been discharged.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs told NOS that Govert Jan Bijl de Vroe, the Dutch ambassador in Portugal, is visiting to the scene of the accident with two employees to offer assistance to the victims and survivors.

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