Four of the tourists who were traveling in the crashed bus on the A22 yesterday will return this evening to Amsterdam, the Netherlands, while another three will depart tomorrow, said Hans Van Haelemeesch, Tui's communication director for the Netherlands and Belgium during the press conference today to late afternoon, it took place in Albufeira Town Hall.
Among the four Dutch departing today from the airport of Faro, "on the first possible flight", at 22 pm, everything indicates that the 30-year-old boy whose mother was one of the three victims yesterday is found, as well as his father.
Responding to the journalist's questions, Hans Van Haelemeesch did not confirm this, but said that among the passengers are "two relatives of fatal victims", the other two being "people who were injured and who have already been discharged".
The spokesperson for TUI Netherlands and Belgium added that, of the Dutch tourists who had not suffered or who had already been discharged from hospital, "the majority decided to stay in the Algarve and spend the vacations they had planned."
As I had already stated this morning, at a press conference at the hospital in Faro, Hans Van Haelemeesch once again praised the response of the emergency services, at the scene of the accident and in the health units, considering them «very professional and very well organized».
The ambassador of the Netherlands in Portugal also thanked the treatment given to the Dutch victims of the bus accident at the service of the tour operator TUI, which yesterday, at 23:02, crashed and overturned on Via do Infante, near the Paderne junction, towards Faro-Portimão, causing 3 dead and 32 wounded. “I would also like to address a big thank you to the Portuguese authorities who dealt with this tragic accident,” he said.
Govert de Vroe also welcomed “the investigations [by the Portuguese authorities] into the causes of the accident. We are awaiting the results of these investigations and, if help is needed, the Dutch authorities will be willing to do so”.
The Dutch ambassador added that his country's foreign minister has already expressed his condolences to the victims' families and that a team from the Dutch diplomatic representation has been supporting the survivors and their families, "in close collaboration" with an organization Dutch company that arrived in the Algarve today, SOS.
Over the course of the day, Govert de Vroe visited the wounded who were still hospitalized and people who had since been transferred to hotels, and also held several meetings with the authorities in the Algarve.
For his part, the mayor of Albufeira, who monitored the work of the rescue teams at the scene of the accident during the night and night, also made a point of stressing the "enormous efficiency and professionalism" of all those involved in the operation, ensuring that he was «difficult to do better».
Carlos Silva e Sousa also highlighted the work of the Albufeira City Council employees, who, until 5:00 am, transported the luggage of tourists on the bus to the GNR transit detachment headquarters in that city, in order to ensure your safety.
As for the possible negative repercussions that this tragic accident could have on the coming of Dutch tourists to the Algarve, Tui's communication director for the Netherlands and Belgium was confident. «The Algarve is a holiday destination with traditions among the Dutch people and I am convinced that all the positive echoes that today, throughout the day, there were in the Dutch media about the way in which the relief and health services acted will be reassuring. to the people".
The accident with the Frota Azul bus, at the service of TUI Holanda, which made a transfer between the Airport of Faro and Lagos, with stops at Armação de Pera and Praia da Rocha, took place at 23:02 pm on Wednesday, due to a skidding followed by a rollover, near the Paderne junction of Via do Infante, towards Faro-Portimão.
The accident caused three deaths, all Dutch nationals, and 32 injured, one of them Portuguese, the driver. This one ended up being released this afternoon.
Six of the 31 people who received medical care during the night in health units in the Algarve are kept in hospitals in the region, but only one 64-year-old woman, hospitalized in Faro, is in critical condition, with a very poor prognosis.
Five patients are hospitalized in Faro and one in Portimão. There is another wounded person admitted to Hospital de S. José, in Lisbon, where he was transported this morning by helicopter.
Dutch tourists flew from Schippol airport in Amsterdam with Arke Fly to Faro, where they landed at 21:14 pm yesterday.
They were on a transfer to several hotels in the region, in the areas of Armação de Pêra, Praia da Rocha and Lagos, when the accident occurred, near the Paderne junction of Via do Infante (A22).
The ambassador of the Netherlands added that he does not know yet when the bodies of the victims will be released, so that they can be taken back to their home country, where the funerals will take place.
The press conference followed a working meeting that took place in Albufeira Town Hall, at 18 pm, and was attended by the ambassador, the TUI Netherlands and Belgium spokesperson, the District Commander of Relief Operations, the clinical director of Centro Hospitalar do Algarve, the president of ARS Algarve, the presidents of the municipality of Albufeira, the Algarve Tourism Region, CCDR and AMAL, as well as the administrator of EVA, the company that owns Frota Azul Algarve, among other authorities and entities.
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