Monsignor Nicholas France also said that a ‘big number’ of the Island’s Madeiran residents returned to their home town for their summer holidays and it was likely that they may have visited the area where the incident took place.
On Monday, a large 200-year-old oak tree collapsed onto a group of worshippers at Madeira’s most important Catholic festival. Each year, hundreds of people gather at Monte near Funchal for the Festa de Senhora de Monte, which marks the Assumption of the Virgin Mary into Heaven.
Monsignor France said: ‘We will have a special mass on Sunday afternoon and by then we should hopefully have a bit more information about what happened.’
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