[News] Switzerland: 15 people injured in rail accident

[BoyKa]

 

Fifteen people were injured in two train derailments that occurred within minutes of each other on Friday in northwestern Switzerland, Bern police said.

At the time of the accidents, a strong storm was hitting the region.

The first train derailed around 4:30 p.m. between the cities of Luscherz and Biena and the other, about 20 minutes later, in the vicinity of Büren zum Hof, about 40 km away, said Flurina Schenk, a police spokeswoman.

Police, medical and fire teams were still at the crash sites on Friday night, he added.

In the first derailment, which occurred on the line that surrounds Lake Biena, "the rear of the train overturned to the right," explained the police spokeswoman.

In the second, nine adults and three children were injured, Magdalena Rast, spokeswoman for the cantonal police, told Swiss television, who shortly before announced a seriously injured person on Twitter.

According to the public transport company RBS, the second derailment could have been caused by hurricane-force winds that hit the Swiss country on Friday.

At the time of the accident, a measuring station in the nearby town of Koppigen recorded a gust of 136 km/h, reported Meteonews.

A squall centered in southern England on Friday generated strong winds across parts of Europe, including Switzerland, according to MeteoSwiss, referring to Storm Mathis.

The strongest gusts were generally accompanied by showers and thunderstorms.

MeteoSwiss had warned in the morning that winds of between 80 and 110 km/h could blow in the plains and between 100 and 140 km/h in the mountains.

Switzerland has a very dense rail network with frequent services.

Although train accidents are not exceptional, they usually do not cause a large number of victims in the Alpine country.

The deadliest disaster in Swiss railway history occurred on June 14, 1891, when a bridge built by Gustave Eiffel collapsed under the weight of a train from Basel. 73 people died in the accident.

And on September 12, 1982, in Pfäffikon, near Zurich, a train struck a coach going through a level crossing, killing 39 people.

 

https://www.elespectador.com/mundo/europa/suiza-15-personas-heridas-por-accidente-ferroviario/