At least 29 dead as tourist coach topples off mountain road on Portuguese Island

No fewer than 29 people have died and 22 people were injured after a tourist coach toppled off a mountain road on the holiday island of Madeira, Portugal.

The coach, which was carrying 55 passengers and a guide, was heading to Funchal, the island's capital, when it careered off the road near the town of Canico.

Filipe Sousa, the mayor of the nearby town of Santa Cruz, said 12 men and 17 women died in the crash - the majority of whom were German nationals.

Locals said the driver lost control of the coach on a bend, careered off the winding mountain road and crashed onto the top of a house. The bus overturned after falling off the road near a remote hotel - the Quinta Splendida Wellness & Botanical Garden.

The driver and the guide, who are both Portuguese, were hurt in the crash but the extent of their injuries has not been revealed.

Emergency services were first contacted at around 6.30pm local time and at least fourteen ambulances attended the crash site.

Mayor Sousa said: "I have no words to describe what happened. I cannot face the suffering of these people."

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