Sierre coach crash
The bus accident in Sierre in the canton of Valais tunnel was an accident caused by a Belgian coach on 13 March 2012 at Sierre tunnel on the A9 Sierre in Switzerland. The impact against a tunnel wall, 28 people were killed: 22 Belgian and Dutch children, their teachers and the two bus drivers. 24 other people were injured, three of them particularly difficult. It is the heaviest bus accident in Switzerland for 30 years.
The victims are mainly students around the age of twelve years from two schools in Heverlee ( province of Flemish Brabant) and Lommel ( Limburg ), which after after a ski camp in St- Luc in the Val d' Anniviers on the way back Belgium were. The space occupied by 52 people bus drove on the highway in the direction of customs and came after two kilometers to 21.15 clock yet unexplained reasons, on the right side, on which he touched the curbs. Then the bus crashed head-on into the end of an emergency stop bay of the tunnel, which unfortunately ends in a plane at right angles to the direction of wall. Dozens of people were freed from the helpers from the wreckage and rushed the injured with helicopters and ambulances to nearby hospitals. At times, more than 200 emergency personnel were involved.
In a press conference, expressed the investigating judge Olivier Elsig, there would be in aetiology three hypotheses: a technical problem, a driver's health problem or human error. He stressed that all the kids were wearing a seat belt and that the bus was in good condition. The evaluation of the tachograph showed that the prescribed rest periods and speed limits were adhered to. An interaction with other road users were excluded after reviewing the surveillance pictures of the tunnel. An autopsy of the driver has been announced. The wounded are 17 Belgians, three Dutch, a Pole and a German. Belgian Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo announced a national day of mourning for the 16 March. It has also been ordered by the Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte grief flagging. In Switzerland, the flags were placed at half-mast in the canton of Valais and on the Federal Palace in Bern.
Accident investigation
Mid- June 2012 was the chief prosecutor of the canton of Valais, Olivier Elsig, after three months of investigation in Brussels announced that the investigators would focus on the drivers of the bus and on " human error, or disease ." The 34 -year-old took the wheel two minutes before the accident, after his 52 -year-old colleague had mastered the difficult mountain route from Saint -Luc down to the valley. The speed in the tunnel in which a speed of 100 km / h was allowed have, be between 99 and 100 km / hr. About 75 meters before the collision point, the bus was traveling to the right curb and collided with 27 meters per second ( = 97.2 km / h ) three seconds later without marked change in direction or deceleration in the co-located on the right side emergency stop bay.
Deficiencies in the maintenance or technical defects were excluded by the investigators due to accident statistics, the evaluation of the tachograph tachograph charts and expertise in the accident vehicle as well as an identical bus, as well as the possibility of action by third parties and gouges on the road or at the tunnel. The thesis that the driver would have handled before the accident on the DVD player, the investigators also appeared unlikely. The driver could have got up loud Olivier Elsig, release the control and having to turn around in order to reach the left in an alcove behind him device can. The decommissioned located 52 -year-old colleague had also been in the front bus at time of accident. Although both drivers shortly after the accident, no alcohol in the blood, it was found that medical dossier of the accident the driver being compared with toxicological analyzes that have been created in recent months. Elsig hopes to conclude the investigation by the end of summer 2012.
Work-up
The Belgian singer Milow dedicated to the victims of a song entitled 22 Children in which he sings about the accident.