Swiss police begin probe into deadly train accident

GENEVA, July 24 Kyodo -
Swiss police began an investigation Saturday into a train accident that
occurred the day before in the alpine canton of Valais in southern Switzerland,
in which a 64-year-old Japanese woman died and 40 others, mostly Japanese
tourists, were injured.
In a statement released Saturday morning, the Valais police said 40 individuals
required hospital treatment, 28 of them Japanese.
According to local health authorities, as of 2:30 p.m. local time, 16 Japanese
were still being hospitalized in six facilities across eastern Switzerland.
Nine are described as ''seriously injured,'' two of whom, women from Yokohama
and Chiba Prefecture, aged 71 and 62, respectively, are in critical condition
and remain unconscious in hospitals in Sion and Lausanne.
A total of 77 Japanese, 74 tourists and three travel guides, part of three tour
groups, were in the train which derailed at 11:50 a.m. Friday between the towns
of Fiesch and Lax. Police say approximately 210 people were on board.
Relatives of Japanese tourists involved in the accident departed Japan and are
expected to arrive in Switzerland Sunday.
Local police said the cause of the accident remained unknown, and would be
investigated by experts.
However, Hans-Rudolf Mooser, president of the Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn, the
company that runs the rail service, said the rails could have been affected by
high temperatures recorded in the past weeks.
He said that other possible causes included human error and problems with the
trains. But given that the cars were relatively new, it is unlikely problems
with the trains caused the accident, he said.
Mooser added that the victims would be compensated.
In Japan, ANA Sales Co., a tour operator affiliated with All Nippon Airways
Co., said a 64-year-old woman from Osaka died during the accident when three
cars of the six-car Glacier Express derailed and the last two cars overturned.
The company said that she was part of a group of 14 and one guide which had
booked an eight-day tour of Switzerland through the company.
Officials from the Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn told Kyodo News it was one of the
worst train accidents in its 80-year history.
Also in Japan, JTB Corp., another tour operator, said 22 people on one of its
tours were involved in the accident. Seventeen were transported to hospitals
and 12 of them required hospitalization, including a 60-year-old woman from
Nagano Prefecture who sustained a broken bone.
The tourists on both the ANA Sales and JTB tours were mostly aged 50 or older.
ANA Sales said local staffers and a London-based employee are heading to the
accident site, and it is making arrangements to dispatch staff from Tokyo if
needed.
''It's extremely regrettable that such an accident occurred and we would like
to express our condolences'' to the victim and her family, ANA Sales President
Osamu Asakawa said Saturday in a press conference in Tokyo.
Hankyu Travel International Co. said 40 people on its tour were on the derailed
train and one of them suffered an injury to his head while the others, who were
not on any of the derailed cars, were left unhurt.
The injured person was a 60-year-old man who had apparently moved to one of the
cars that went off the tracks to take photographs, the company said.
Local police said that at least three of the injured had to be evacuated by
helicopter to hospitals in Geneva and Lausanne.
At least 150 people were involved in the rescue operation, a police spokesman
told Kyodo News.
The Glacier Express, which has an average speed of 30 kilometers per hour, is
famed for its stunning views of the Swiss Alps. Its 7.5-hour journey, in cars
with specially fitted large windows, begins in Zermatt and crosses the Swiss
Alps to luxury sky resort St. Moritz.
==Kyodo