UPDATED SUNDAY 19:40: First of injured in Spanish bus crash to return to Finland tonight
Government crisis response procedures win initial approval
At a press conference convened on Sunday morning, both Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen (Centre Party) and Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Stubb (National Coalition Party) expressed their profound condolences to the relatives of the victims of Saturday night's bus crash in Spain.
Foreign Minister Stubb gave an assurance that Finnish officials would provide all possible support in the aftermath of the accident, which has claimed at least nine Finnish lives and left a further dozen of more injured.
He noted that it was very difficult to gauge precisely the level of help required, as detailed information on the medical condition of all the injured parties has not yet been obtained.
”If there is a need for greater assistance, then more resources will be forthcoming. This is not a question of resources for us, nor is it an administrative issue - this is a crisis situation and we should act accordingly", said Stubb.
According to Jukka Salama, the CEO of Aurinkomatkat, the travel operator whose customers were involved in the accident, officials in Spain have not provided information on the condition of the injured or the identies of the deceased to the company directly.
Instead, the information will travel by the normal channels first to the Spanish police, then to the country's Foreign Ministry, and only then to Finland.
Both Vanhanen and Stubb expressed regret that the process of indentifying the victims was still incomplete at the time of the press conference, and that for this reason many Finnish families were obliged to remain in the dark and fearing the worst.
Vanhanen confirmed that the Finnish and Spanish officials were doing their utmost to ensure that the identification could be carried out reliably and as quickly as humanly possible. "Just as soon as the information is available, the authorities will see to the passing of the details to relatives", said Vanhanen, without going into details of the timetable for this.
Finnish President Tarja Halonen, at present in Accra, Ghana attending a United Nations conference on trade and development, also expressed her condolences to the families of the dead and injured.
A group of tourists returned from Malaga in the early hours of Sunday morning, but none of these were aboard the crashed coach.
The first of the injured and those who escaped the crash physically unscathed will fly back to Finland later this evening. Jukka Salama estimated that their aircraft would arrive at around 21:00.
The plane is a special evacuation flight, and not a scheduled connection. Salama also expressed his condolences on behalf of Aurinkomatkat to the relatives of the deceased and injured.
The repatriation of those more seriously injured in the crash will have to be determined on a case-by-case basis after consultations with medical personnel.
The Finnish officials and the Aurinkomatkat representative thanked the Spanish authorities for their smooth provision of information on the incident and for the speedy and effective rescue response at the scene on the A7 motorway in Benalmádena.
The ministers also expressed satisfaction with the upgraded crisis response mechanisms put into place after the tsunami some years ago in the Indian Ocean, which have resulted in the rapid transmission of information to all concerned parties.
First indications are that a good many of the lessons that needed to be learned from the tragedies in Thailand in December 2004 have been - the response was rapid, effective, compassionate, and as transparent as the circumstances allowed.
Stubb himself reported on developments on his own blog within hours of being notified of the accident, and before the Foreign Ministry's own apparatus was in a position to make public statements.
He was also in contact almost immediately with the Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Ángel Moratinos. Moratinos briefed him on the actions of the Spanish rescue teams at the scene, including the setting up of an emergency field hospital beside the highway.
More on this subject:
 SUNDAY MORNING 1:40: At least nine Finnish tourists dead in Costa del Sol bus crash
UPDATED SUNDAY 18:30: Spanish police have now identified all victims
UPDATED SUNDAY 18:30: Some relatives travelling to Spain this evening
Links:
Statement in English on the Foreign Ministry website
Crisis response centre opened for families of victims of coach crash in Spain (Foreign Ministry)
Helsingin Sanomat
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