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THE BODIES OF the 28 people killed in a coach crash in an Alpine tunnel on Tuesday night are being flown home today.
Of those killed, 22 were children aged about 12. Four teachers and two bus drivers also died.
Most of the victims are Belgian, but Swiss officials say the dead include seven Dutch children, reports the BBC.
The other 24 people on board, all children, were injured and airlifted to different hospitals around Switzerland. Some victims are said to be seriously injured.
The Belgian school group was returning from a skiing holiday in Switzerland when their bus crashed head-on into a concrete wall in a motorway tunnel at about 9pm on Tuesday. It was one of a group of three buses, the other two of which reached Belgium safely.
Relatives were flown to Switzerland on Wednesday, however the chaos of the crash meant that some parents were unsure if their child was alive or not.
Belgium announced a day of mourning, and the Swiss parliament held a minute of silence for the victims.
An investigation into the crash has been launched, but the cause of the tragedy is not yet clear.
Police said the bus was not speeding and everyone aboard had been wearing seat belts when it crashed inside the 2.5-kilometre Tunnel de Geronde on a highway near the southern town of Sierre, a gateway to the Val d’Anniviers tourist region. No other vehicles were involved.
Investigators were still trying to determine how a modern bus, a rested driver and a seemingly safe tunnel could produce one of the deadliest highway crashes in Swiss history.
The accident virtually shredded the front end of the bus, leaving only small, barely recognizable pieces in place. Passengers were trapped inside.
Dr Jean-Pierre Deslarzes, medical director of the local Swiss rescue service OCVS, said first-responders were traumatised because so many of the victims were children so young.
Additional reporting by the AP
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Was an avid viewer of them all, specially Corrie. All of a sudden, I just stopped. I don’t know what happened, I just suddenly lost complete interest in all of them. Go figure.
@Anna Carr: omg I’m the same no interest at all
@Anna Carr: same watched then all just stopped over pandemic, think I was just sick of all the doom and glum, and uv no interest now
I’d rather go to the dentist.
Every day.
I admit to it, freely and often but only ever one soap, that’s more than enough and, even after 60 years The Journal still managed to get that record holding actor’s character name wrong, it’s Ken not Kevin Barlow.
@Tom Hogarty: I used to go out with someone that had to watch all the soaps… Honest to god… Add up the amount of hours a week that is… Home and Away, Fair City, Neighbours, Coronation Street, Eastenders, Emmerdale, and Hollyoaks.
@FiannaFáilness FineGaelness: I guess you never went out so .
@Gearoid O Chorraigh: Clever boy! Haha
@FiannaFáilness FineGaelness: rented with a lad like that years ago, 10 sisters he had and they watched every soap made, a bit lighter straight after school, the Australian ones, warming up with the northern English soaps to follow, fair city and EastEnders to finish off, although he always said he didn’t like fair city..
Emigrated to Australia then 8 years ago and we havent heard from him since
The last time I watched soaps Emmerdale was still a farm and Dirty Den managed the Queen Vic
As someone born into the single TV generation in 1979, I had to watch them because my parents did. Though I chose to watch Home and Away after school back in the day.
@Reuben Gray: yeah has to watch Corrie growing up but I did watch Eastenders for a few years willingly. The shows I actively watched were Neighbours, Holly oaks and some US ones back in the day on Sky General Hospital and As the world turns
Tolka Row and The Riordans
I watched home and away fairly religiously for about 25 years, grand to watch with the dinner. Used to watch eastenders in fits and starts but got a bit too grim.
Have never watched a single episode of Corrie, Emmerdale Farm, East Enders, Fair City etc. Used to watch the Aussie soaps back in my school days when Scott & Charlene and Shane & Angel were a thing. Really showing my age. Lost interest in them at some point. Also watched Glenroe on Sunday nights; the theme tune still haunts me as once it was over, I had to go to bed ahead of a new school week
Ros na Rún all the way for me. Makes it all the better that it is set in rural Ireland in a Gaeltacht area
I do listen The Archers before turning in for the night. Does that count?
I used to watch Shortland Street but one day I didn’t bother and I never went back to it, that was about 2 years ago.
YouTube, Channel 4 player and (my father-in-law’s) Netflix all the way. Haven’t had “channels” in years and will never bother with them again.
Fair City and more recently i’ve become a fan of Ros na Rún – better than watching nonstop news and comment
Only watch Shortland Street, Neighbours and Home and Away. I used to watch Corrie and Emmerdale but I just didn’t enjoy them anymore.
@Carùl O’Hickey: only
@Gareth Keenan: they’re on at a time when people are preparing/eating and cleaning up afterwards, easy to leave on in the background and half pay attention
Real Life is shirty enough…
Amazon Prime, Netflix [piggyback], Now and YouTube. Haven’t watched terrestrial channels in a long time, except the Smithsonian channel on occasion. I like watching stuff that might educate me about the world, instead of rotting away my brain..
Absolute rubbish shows. I never watched them and the children were never allowed to watch then when they were younger.
Somebody must be watching the soaps because they have the highest TV viewing ratings.
But no one here wants to admit to it.
@Roger Bond: we probably get counted as watching eastenders tbh. We don’t. It’s just it’s on at a time where we are between programs, and using the time to do other things before having a final settle for the evening. So it’s on but not actually watched. I only know it’s eastenders from the horrible accents of some of them.
I don’t watch television unless visiting a pub or friend’s house. Darts is fascinating on tv.
Fair City only
@Veronica Conway: God love ya watching that scutter
@Daniel Carry: Fair $hitty
Doctors on BBC is the only soap we watch now. Used to watch corrie,but gave up when we were nearly 50 episodes behind and there was no hope of catching up. Deleted all the recorded episodes and just stopped.
I watched several as a teenager and they were fun for a while but I soon realised the plots were just recycled every few years and it felt like I was watching the same thing over and over on an endless loop.
No. I like things that have a beginning and an eventual end.
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