Coach crash kills several people in Swiss Alps

International

SEVERAL people have been killed and others injured after a tourist coach carrying 48 Dutch passengers overturned in the Swiss Alps, triggering a major rescue operation involving helicopters and emergency crews.

The crash happened late Thursday afternoon on a road between Susch and Zernez in south-eastern Switzerland’s Graubünden region, also known as Grisons.

A large team of rescuers, supported by several helicopters, was sent to the scene as emergency services responded to the crash.

According to a BBC report, the coach was carrying some 48 Dutch passengers, according to a spokeswoman for the General Dutch Association of Travel Companies, speaking on behalf of tour operator OAD.

The spokesperson told Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf they could not yet say how many people had been killed or injured.

Images published by Swiss news outlets showed the coach lying on its side beside a narrow country road, with numerous ambulances at the scene and groups of rescuers working nearby.

The coach reportedly left the Netherlands on Monday and was on a day trip to Switzerland from Austria when the crash occurred.

The accident happened near Zernez, the entry point for visitors to the Swiss National Park, a vast Alpine reserve covering more than 100 sq km (40 sq miles) across the mountainous Engadine valley.(MyTVCebu)