GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – A 23-year-old Swiss-Belgian guide and one of his clients, a 24-year-old German woman, died in a canyoning accident in canton St Gallen. Five other people were rescued when the group was caught by a sudden rise in the Fallenbach river; three were hospitalized. The five are two Swiss men, two Swiss women and a German woman, ages 24-49.
Two groups from two different companies were in the area at the time, and one group alerted Rega rescue services that the other group, higher in the gorges, appeared to be in trouble.
Authorities have opened an investigation for manslaughter, but say it will take some time to determine what exactly happened.
Switzerland in 2011 tightened its laws covering companies that offer extreme sports, to require guides to be certified, for example. A rating accident in canton Bern in 1999 killed 21 people and
