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29 March 2024

Swiss train carriage plunges into ravine

Published

A landslide derailed a passenger train in the Swiss mountains on Wednesday sending one carriage plunging into a ravine but it appeared that miraculously there had been no deaths.

Photos in Swiss media showed another carriage hanging precariously over the edge of the ravine in the heavily forested region of mountainous eastern Switzerland.

Terrified passengers described crowding into the rear of one of the carriages in a bid to prevent it from tipping over the edge.

"The train made an emergency stop in the middle of nowhere," passenger Stevens Bockor was quoted as saying by news website 20Minuten.

"We all rushed to the back of the carriage to put all of our weight there, so that it didn't tip into the abyss," he said.

The eight-carriage regional train was travelling between the upscale mountain resort of St. Moritz and the regional capital of Chur when it derailed around 12:45 pm (1045 GMT).

Local police described the accident as "serious" but there were no reports of deaths.

"At least three carriages were derailed. Several people were injured. The rescue and evacuation operation is in progress," police said in a statement

"There were around 200 people on the train. Paramedics are treating passengers who are in shock," it said.

Simon Rageth, spokesman of regional rail company Rhaetische Bahn, told AFP part of the train was "derailed by a landslide" but was unable to immediately provide more details.

Four helicopters were rushed to the scene -- a heavily forested hillside with little road access -- to help evacuate the injured.

Swiss broadcaster RTS said scores of uninjured passengers made their way down the line to the local town of Tiefencastel on foot.

The region has been lashed by heavy rain in recent days and waterlogged earth is a common cause of landslides.