Twenty-eight people have died after a tourist bus crashed and overturned on the island of Madeira.

Portugal’s SIC channel reported most of the victims were German nationals.

RTP Madeira reported 17 of the fatalities were female, with 11 male.

Mayor Filipe Sousa said: “I have no words to describe what happened.

The bus is said to have lost control before it fell on top of a house on Wednesday evening.

Images from the scene showed the overturned white bus surrounded by emergency service workers.

It happened in Caniço, a coastal town to the east of the island’s capital city of Funchal.

reuters