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Updated at 8.36pm
TWELVE PEOPLE WERE crushed to death and around 50 were injured when a 200-year-old oak tree fell on them at a religious festival on the Portuguese island of Madeira.
Seven of those hurt were seriously injured, regional health chief Pedro Ramos told a press conference. The injured include a French citizen, a German and a Hungarian.
The tragic incident occurred around noon when the massive tree toppled into a crowd gathered near the island’s capital of Funchal to mark the Lady of the Mount festival in honour of Madeira’s patron saint, Mary.
Amateur video posted online showed the tree smashing down, prompting panicked worshippers to flee.
Catholics around the world mark Assumption Day on 15 August, which according to Christian tradition marks the Virgin Mary’s ascent into heaven.
The festival in Madeira draws large crowds every year from the island and beyond, and worshippers had gathered to light candles in a botanical garden around five kilometres from central Funchal.
‘Panic’
“We heard a cracking sound and then the tree fell where people were lighting candles. People sitting on the benches near the fountain were also hit,” witness Domingos Perestrelo told the SIC Noticias TV station.
There was a big panic – it happened in the middle of mass, around a half-hour before the start of the procession. There were a lot of people there.
The fountain is surrounded by several tall trees aged a hundred years or more.
A security perimeter was set up around the scene, where worried worshippers were gathered waiting anxiously for news and offering help to rescue teams.
Miguel Albuquerque, president of the regional government, announced three days of mourning.
Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa offered his condolences to families and friends of the victims, while President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa was due to arrive at the scene in the coming hours.
Local football team Maritimo Funchal expressed its “profound sadness at the tragedy in Monte”.
Madeira, a popular tourist destination thanks to its dramatic coastlines and gentle climate, is the largest of several Portuguese islands in the north Atlantic Ocean.
Located in a volcanic archipelago off the coast of Morocco, it is prone to floods as well as landslides – which in February 2010 left more than 50 people dead, with Funchal badly hit.
Last year the Lady of the Mount festival was cancelled due to a forest fire.
Madeira has a population of more than 250,000, the vast majority of them Catholic.
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Is there any reason a person can get fired with the wrc awarding them money? It’s getting a bit out of hand
@niamh ryan: sorry ment to be without awarding them money
@niamh ryan: read the article again, the employer messed up considerably
@iohanx: I did read the article fully, the employee only worked 2 days a week and still was liable to be late/leave early/not turn up at all. Just because the employer didn’t write his warnings down you think he should be awarded 11k? I doubt anyone actually gets these pay outs as the wrc has no legal standing but still
@iohanx: I don’t know if messed up is the word I’d use but they clearly didn’t follow all the processes that they are supposed to. Maybe they didn’t have a Legal and a HR department to advise them because they are just a small time garage. Many smaller operators find it impossible to stay on the right side of employment law.
@lochinvar56: And what if the employer in this instance is telling the truth, stand up in the WRC and praise the employees ability and say his job is still open. Was he not treating him right? Typical comment from the we are entitled to everything brigade
@lochinvar56: haha did you like that comment yourself!? No interest in your “employment” status ok lochy, I’m sure your one of the better “employers”
Very strange that,being such an experienced and skilled mechanic, he didn’t look for or find another position with better pay.
@DrDucati: Now running his own business.
@Jane Alford: only able to earn 140 per week?
My goodness what mechanic earns only €140 a week,
@hugh sure: does the article not say “€240 for 24hrs per week”
@hugh sure: ah seen the part you’re talking about “working for himself earning average of €140 per week”.
Why the anonymity? If this was Dunnes or Tesco, their name would have been headline!
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