Several deaths have been confirmed after a tourist coach flipped over on a mountainous road in Switzerland, police said. Emergency services responded to reports of the accident at 8.10pm in the scenic Engadine valley of the Alps.
The incident involved a Dutch-owned coach with 48 passengers, who are understood to have been from the Netherlands. Rescue teams and paramedics were seen by the coach as it lay on its side on an embankment beside the carriageway. Helicopters have also landed nearby as part of the response.
Police statement on the crash
A local police statement read: "Several people died in the accident involving the tour bus in Susch. Several people were also injured. Further information will follow." An earlier message said: "Between Susch and Zernez, a tour bus has had an accident. Various rescue organizations are on site."
The incident took place in the eastern Swiss canton of Graubünden, deep in the Engadine valley, on a stretch of road linking the villages of Susch and Zernez.
Coach operator and passengers
The coach reportedly belongs to Oad, a Dutch tour company that runs holiday trips across Europe. A spokesperson for the General Dutch Association of Travel Companies (ANVR) confirmed it was carrying 48 passengers from the Netherlands.
"These are Dutch customers of OAD. We cannot yet say exactly how many people have been killed or injured," the spokesperson said to the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf. A police spokesperson said the road between Zernez and Susch has remained closed.
Arjan Koster, director of the Oad bus company, told the Dutch news portal AD the trip had begun on Monday and the coach was en route to Austria for a day visit to Switzerland.
