Swiss.inform
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| The wreckage of the bus |
The dead and injured were among a Belgian school group returning home after a ski holiday, according to the Valais cantonal authorities.
Twenty-four children were injured. There were 52 people on the coach.
The group comprised two school parties from Flanders. They had been staying at a ski resort in Val d’Anniviers. The children were between ten and 12 years old.
The bus was travelling from Sierres to Sion through a tunnel on the A9 motorway, when for unknown reasons it veered and slammed into the tunnel wall.
The alarm was raised just after 9.15 pm. More than 200 people have been involved in the rescue operation, including 15 doctors, 30 police officers and 60 fire officers. More than eight hours were needed.
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| Räddningshelikopter vid tunnelingången |
The children were travelling from Val d'Anniviers and were returning to Belgium.
The bus carrying the passengers was registered in Belgium, the news agency said.
In Brussels, the Belgian foreign ministry said most of the children were aged around 12 and the bus was one of three hired by a Christian group.
The bus was travelling towards Sion, and hit a wall on Tuesday night in the motorway tunnel running from east to west and exiting at Sierre.
Valais cantonal police initially reported only injuries.
The bus was carrying 52 passengers from the cities of Lommel in northeast Belgium and Heverlee near Louvain in the centre of the country.
The news agency said two drivers were killed in the accident.
Four Valais hospitals were treating the injured, SDA-ATS reported.
