A horrific bus accident in Matosinhos killed a 70-year-old woman yesterday, and injured several others, one of them seriously.
Reports vary on what actually caused the crash which flattened a bus stop causing the death and injuries to people waiting underneath it, and also damaged two other buses
National tabloid Correio da Manhã suggests the Resende bus was “out of control”.
Observador wesbite however says it may have been stationary and “started suddenly while the driver was trying to fix it”.
One aspect seems certain: Resende buses are notorious for being “badly maintained”.
Observador writes: “Many passengers at the scene had complaints about the transport business, namely over the poor condition of the buses.
“There are reports of vehicles catching fire in action”.
CM too heard that the buses “are always breaking down. They smell bad and they leak when it rains.
“They should not be transporting passengers”, Lurdes Teixeira told them.
Teixeira was one of a number of people who tried to help victims in the horror, and actually held the hand of the 70-year-old woman who died of her injuries where she lay.
“I even managed to speak with her, poor woman”, Teixeira told CM.
For now, Resende has failed to release any kind of statement, and the accident is being investigated by the PSP.
Among the injured is another 70-year-old woman who is understood to have been seriously hurt.
Commenting on the tragedy, Matosinhos’ councillor in charge of mobility José Pedro Rodrigues has said Resende may end up losing its licence to operate. It all depends on the investigation now underway, Rodrigues told TSF radio.
“Naturally, if responsibilities are discovered, we will be inflexible”, he said, adding that “a public transport service has to have the confidence of its local population”.
