Coach crash in Spain: Emphasis shifted to crisis assistance

Press release 136/2008
April 21, 2008

The emphasis of aftercare following the coach crash in Spain late Saturday, 19 April, has now shifted to the provision of crisis assistance for the injured tourists and those who have already returned to Finland. In the late evening of 20 April, Minister Paula Risikko issued a Ministry of Social Affairs and Health bulletin on the obligations of local government to provide assistance.

A comprehensive medical assessment has been done for all Finns injured in the crash and still receiving treatment in Spain. A Finnish doctor who flew to Malaga as well as one Finnish and two Danish SOS International doctors have spoken with them. Five Finnish Red Cross psychologists and two Finnish church priests have also been in constant contact with the injured Finns.

A total of 25 Finnish tourists are still in Malaga; some of them have already been released from hospital. On the basis of an overall evaluation, and in the light of the present information, the majority of the injured can return to Finland on normal flights. Some, however, will need to travel in a recumbent position. The decision on ambulance flights is made in the end by each injured person’s own insurance company, on the basis of medical assessments.

An Aurinkomatkat Travel Agency flight left for Madeira in the morning of 21 April. According to the travel agency, the plan is for this plane to return to Finland tonight at 23:50, flying by way of Malaga. On the basis of information received by the Foreign Ministry, the intention is that most of the injured tourists able to return to Finland on normal flights, and their family members who flew to Malaga to be with them, will be on that flight.

The Foreign Ministry’s crisis response centre telephone line, on +358 9 1605 5555, continues to provide round-the-clock service.

For family members of the deceased, the Spanish Ministry of the Interior has set up an information telephone line, on +34 955 041 861, that provides service in Finnish.

Additional information: Director Juha Markkanen, Information Unit, tel. +358 9 1605 5836