In brief
- A bus carrying dozens of tourists has crashed in Switzerland.
- Local police said the vehicle hit a safety barrier before falling down an embankment.
Several people were killed and more were injured when a coach carrying Dutch tourists in eastern Switzerland crashed, police said on Friday.
The accident happened late on Thursday afternoon local time, between the communes of Susch and Zernez in the far-eastern canton of Graubünden.
The coach hit a safety barrier before overturning and plunging down an embankment, a local police spokesman told Swiss media.
The Dutch Federation of Travel Agencies (ANVR) told the Agence France-Presse (AFP) news agency that the coach belonged to the tour company Oad and was carrying 48 passengers, all of them from the Netherlands.
"Several people died in the coach crash in Susch. Several others were also injured," the cantonal police said on X, without giving details on the circumstances of the accident or the victims' identities.
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A police spokesman told AFP that the force did not wish to provide a more detailed toll until the victims' families had been informed.
According to the ANVR, the coach left the Netherlands on Monday and was on a day trip to Switzerland from Austria when the crash happened.
Footage broadcast by Swiss media showed rescue workers rushing around the coach, with helicopters stationed nearby.
Oad said in a statement it was "deeply shocked and devastated by the tragic accident".
"Our thoughts are with everyone involved and their loved ones. Local authorities are currently fully engaged in relief efforts and in determining the situation and the number of casualties," it added.
"We are doing everything in our power to obtain clarity quickly and to support those involved and their families wherever possible."
Swiss President Guy Parmelin offered his condolences to the families of the victims, calling the crash a "tragic accident".
Zernez is the entry point for visitors to the Swiss national park, a vast Alpine reserve stretching more than 100 square kilometres (40 square miles) across the mountainous Engadine valley.
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