Posted on 03/14/2012 3:25:08 AM PDT by rawhide
GENEVA — A bus smashed into a tunnel wall in the Swiss Alps, killing 22 Belgian 12-year-olds returning from a ski vacation and the six adults who were accompanying them, police said Wednesday.
Another 24 students were hospitalized with injuries, Valais cantonal (state) police spokesman Jean-Marie Bornet told The Associated Press.
The bus carrying 52 people, including young students from two different Belgian schools, hit the tunnel wall shortly after 9 p.m. local time Tuesday on the A9 highway near Sierre, Switzerland, in the southern Swiss canton of Valais, an area of popular ski resorts.
Authorities were still identifying all the victims, said Didier Reynders, the Belgian foreign minister. It was unclear exactly how the accident happened, he said.
“It is incomprehensible,” Reynders said.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
What I am wondering is if there was a mechanical failure or the bus was tampered with.
A parent’s ultimate nightmare.
I wouldn't want to be that guy. There's just no making sense of something like this.
At the press conference, they said the bus was travelling at the proper speed, and that all of the passengers were buckled in with seat belts. Apparently the road bends at this point, and the right front tire hit the curb and jumped it. The driver lost control at the jump, and continued straight where the road turned.
Prayers for everyone involved. This is just horrible.
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