Five people were injured after an avalanche derailed a train near to the Swiss village of Goppenstein.
The derailment happened at around 7am on Monday morning in the canton of Valais, southwest Switzerland, police said on the social media platform X.
One of the five injured people had to be taken to the hospital in Sion, police stated. “The other four were treated at the scene by emergency services and did not require hospitalisation.”
The operation involved two ambulances, a helicopter, and eight mountain rescuers. Two fire and rescue trains were also deployed.
Swiss Federal Railways wrote on its website that an avalanche had caused the accident.
The RE1 line, which runs between Bern and Brig, is most affected. Route operator BLS told the Keystone-SDA news agency that the incident occurred in the Stockgraben Tunnel between Goppenstein and Hohtenn, beyond the Lötschberg Tunnel.
Service disruptions
The affected train was a RegioExpress that departed Spiez at 6:12am (7:12am Cyprus time). According to BLS, there were 29 passengers on board at the time of the derailment.
Train services between the Goppenstein and Brig in canton Valais have been interrupted until “at least until 4pm”. Delays and train cancellations are to be expected.
Fresh snowfall and storms have resulted in a large amount of wind-drifted snow in Valais. Avalanches can be easily triggered or occur spontaneously in these conditions, according to the WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF.
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Source: swissinfo.ch
