The driver of the tourist bus that crashed in 2019 in the parish of Caniço in Madeira, in an accident that killed 29 foreigners and was the only person accused in the process, died in a Funchal hospital.
The public announcement of the driver’s death at the age of 62 was made today in the newspapers of the region, indicating that he was admitted to the hospital dos Marmeleiros and that he was in palliative care in the hospital department of Dr. Marmeleiros. John Almadsky.
With his death, criminal liability is extinguished in a process that was still in the briefing stage, which leads to shelving.
In contact with Lusa, prosecutors said today that they do not yet have official information about the death of the defendant, but said that when the death is confirmed, the process will be archived after the termination of criminal liability.
On April 17, 2019 at 6:30 pm, a tourist bus crashed on Estrada da Ponta da Oliveira in the municipality of Santa Cruz, east of Funchal.
The bus, which crashed onto the roof of a house after a driver lost control, was following 55 passengers on their way to a casual dinner at a restaurant in Funchal.
The dead – 17 women and 12 men – were all Germans by nationality and were between the ages of 40 and 50.
Of the 27 injured, two were Portuguese citizens (the driver and guide-interpreter who accompanied the group).
Eight months after the accident, on December 19, 2019, prosecutors requested in a collective court that the bus driver be sentenced “for committing 29 negligent homicides.”
Information released at the time by the District Attorney General of Lisbon (PGDL) mentioned that the man was also charged with three crimes against physical integrity due to negligence.
“The process has been ongoing for more than a year, the victims have been notified that a civil lawsuit has been filed,” the defendant’s lawyer told Lusa.
The defense lawyer also added that she was notified of the accusation, but due to her disagreement, she asked “to open the instruction, waiting for a decision on its adoption and subsequent implementation of the necessary actions, and subsequent instructive debate.”
As for the examination of the bus, it was carried out by the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto, which concluded that “there are no problems with the engine or the body.”