Dr Jean-Pierre Desfarzes, in charge of the emergency medical team, reflected the exhaustion and distress of the 200 rescue workers called to the scene, who worked throughout the night to save the injured and remove the dead
GENEVA / SION, SWITZERLAND – The death toll from Tuesday night’s horrific bus crash in Sierre, canton Valais remained at 28 Wednesday, according to Canton Valais police.
But in a rundown of the condition of the 24 passengers who are hospitalized with injuries there was good news and bad 20 hours after the accident.
The bus crashed head-on into a wall that is part of an emergency pullover area inside the tunnel, killing 28 and injuring 24, at 21:15 Tuesday 13 March.
The weather was fine, the tunnel well lit, no other vehicles were involved: in short, there is no easy explanation for the accident.
The bus was carrying children from southern Belgium who had been at a winter sports camp in the Val d’Anniviers. They were returning home and had only traveled 15 or so kilometres.
A press conference by Valais Police at 18:00 Wednesday provided a few new details:
- Of the 24 who are injured, 22 have been identified; police are still working to identify all of the dead definitively in order to tell their families, but the identification of two of the three who are in critical condition in Lausanne has not yet been possible and police have called in a number of medical specialists to try to speed up the process
- Numerous Dutch and Belgian families have come to Switzerland: some do not yet know if their children are dead or alive because there were three buses on the trip and although police quickly obtained a list of students, it was not immediately clear which children had taken which bus
- There were 52 people on the bus and the latest information indicates that in addition to the Belgians, 10 were Dutch, 1 German and 1 Polish person
- The state of the injured: the three patients at the Chuv university hospitals in Lausanne are in critical condition and Dr Jean-Pierre Deslarzes, head of the cantonal medical emergency group, choked up as he said that their lives remain in danger
- State of the others who are injured: one child flown to a hospital in Bern is in stable condition, six who were taken to hospital in Visp are medically well enough to leave the hospital; by Wednesday evening, of the 14 children hospitalized in Sion, one remained in intensive care but was being prepared to be moved to the pediatric care centre
- 200 rescue workers toiled throughout the night to free the injured and remove bodies; several passengers were incarcerated and cutting through the metal proved a long and difficult task, given the state of the bus, which suffered a violent impact
- translators and counselers are working with the canton to welcome and help house families and to help them cope with their grief and also the uncertainty.
The cause of the bus crash in Sierre, as well as its trajectory, are not yet clear
The cause of the accident remains unclear, but the district public prosecutor was rapidly contacted to open an investigation and ensure that police were able to safeguard any clues that might help clarify the cause.
Investigation head Olivier Elsig told reporters that the bus appeared to be traveling within the speed limit and that the children appeared to have used their seat belts, but the impact was so great that many of the seats were torn out.
He ruled out problems with the road surface or the tunnel itself, which is very well lit and relatively new (1999-2002 construction).
Police guard the area in the tunnel, near the Sierre west autoroute exit, where the accident occurred (left). The tunnel was closed Wednesday evening in the direction of Sion, for the investigation.
He cited the fact that the investigation is continuing, as a reason for not providing more details, but he also noted that the accident had occurred less than 24 hours earlier and a top priority was to remove the passengers, identify them and contact families.
The investigation could take some time, Elsig noted, as they look for witnesses who saw the bus before the accident and as they analyze wall and road tracings and interview survivors, once they are in a condition to talk.
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Swiss companies share first place at the bottom of the list, but for a change this is a good thing: the list is Transparency International’s (TI) rankings of countries most likely to bribe abroad. Russia heads the list, with China close behind. The last two invested $120 billion overseas in 2010.
The Netherlands and Switzerland are the countries whose companies are the least likely to bribe. The report ranks 28 major international and regional exporting countries by the likelihood of their firms to bribe abroad, based on surveys of 3,000 business executives.
The annual report on bribery looks, for the first time, at business to business bribery rather than just bribes paid to government officials. Story continues …
Source: Transparency International, November 2011
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – The Netherlands Wednesday threw its support soundly behind Geneva-based Global Fund, agreeing to invest €163.5 million to fight Aids, tuberculosis and malaria. Perhaps more critically, the Dutch government made the announcement with a firm message of support for the organization’s financial credibility.
The Global Fund suffered a sharp if possibly temporary reduction in funding this year following a widely distributed US news agency report in January that mistakenly accused the fund of not managing money properly.
The report focused on alleged fraud cases and implied mismanagement, but used information the Global Fund itself had published, following internal investigations, as part of its policy of transparency. Several governments withdrew their funding pledges as a result, saying they needed time to review the situation, putting the Global Fund’s operations into a precarious situation.
Dutch Minister for European and International Affairs Ben Knapen underscored Dutch support in the wake of the Geneva group’s funding crisis, in announcing the agreement through the Dutch Foreign Ministry:
Dreieckhorn on the left, Aletschhorn on the right (photo, Wikipedia)
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – A 28-year-old Dutch woman died when she fell 200 metres and her 28-year-old climbing companion was gravely injured when he tried to save her and then also fell, late Monday 11 July, near Aletsch, in canton Valais.
The two fell as they were coming down from the Dreieckhorn. They were part of a group of four Dutch climbers who were not roped together.
The woman slipped and lost her balance, and when one of the others tried to grab her he, too, slipped and fell into a void.
The two others contacted emergency services and an Air Zermatt helicopter plus a mountain rescue team went to the scene. The injured man, whose life is not in danger, was taken by helicopter to the Ile de Berne Hospital.
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The federal government has issued a consumer alert for Dutch mussels which are known to have caused diarrhea and vomiting in at least 14 cases in France. The mussels were delivered in Switzerland to several outlets, including Coop and Manor grocery stores.
They were also delivered to numerous restaurant suppliers.
The product has been removed and the Dutch company that sells them is investigating, says Bern, but anyone who recently bought mussels should check them. The products in question are:
Product 1
- Fresh mussels: Moules Fraîches MSC, Moule d’Or 2 kg Qualimer
- Producter Vette & Verhaart
- Registration number NL 6074 EG
- Packaging date/Date d’emballage 05/03/11, 07/03/11, 08/03/11, 09/03/11, 10/03/11
- Shelf life/Date limite de consommation DLC 12/03/11, 14/03/11, 15/03/11, 16/03/11,
- 17/03/11
Product 2
- Fresh mussels: Moules Fraîches MSC 1 kg
- Producer Vette & Verhaart
- Registration number/Numéro d’enregistrement NL 6074 EG
- Packaging date/Date d’emballage 05/03/11,07/03/11, 08/03/11, 09/03/11, 10/03/11
- Shelf life/Date limite de consommation DL 12/03/11, 14/03/11, 15/03/11, 16/03/11, 17/03/11
Bern, Switzerland and Athens, Greece (GenevaLunch) – The Swiss embassy in Athens received a package with a bomb Tuesday 2 November, one of five embassies in the city to receive such packages. The bomb sent to the Swiss was not thrown into the courtyard, nor did it explode, contrary to initial international media reports, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs in Bern, although it sent out a flame .
The news comes the day after a young Greek man was arrested on suspicion of having sent a package, intercepted in Greece, to French President Nicolas Sarkozy as well as to the Belgian, Dutch and Mexican embassies Monday. An employee in a courier delivery service was injured when one of them exploded at the company’s office.
The other four packages sent Tuesday, to the Bulgarian, Chilean, German and Russian embassies, were dismantled by bomb specialists from the Greek police.
Metal was detected in the package delivered to the Swiss embassy, prompting a check. Based on initial information, the local embassy team at the gate, considering the package suspect, threw it into a courtyard. It is unclear if the flame shot out when it was thrown.
Global warming: UK report encourages scientists to be more open (photo ©Peter Brodbeck)
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch.com) - Geneva-based IPCC (Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change) has received its second bit of good news this week about investigations into how its 2007 benchmark report on climate change reached its conclusions.
A six-month investigation in Britain (report, PDF) into a scandal involving scientists who contributed to the IPCC report has dismissed allegations of concealing and distorting information. At the same time, the East Anglia independent review group, led by Muir Russell, has come down hard on the scientists for operating in a culture of secrecy.
Earlier this week a Dutch government inquiry backed the core conclusions of the IPCC’s Fourth Assessment Report on climate change. The report was undertaken in the wake of doubts cast on the work of the IPCC.
The UK scandal broke in November 2009 when a hacker obtained copies of 1,000 e-mail correspondence among scientists at the British university and published them on several web sites.
Spain to the finals for the very first time. There will be a new World Champion on 11 July – Photo 2010 FWCLOC
International Sports, World Cup football
Durban, South Africa (GenevaLunch.com) - The 2010 World Cup will have a European winner, from a country that has not yet won the ultimate prize in football.
Carlos Puyol scored the only goal for Spain in the semi-final with Germany with a booming header direct from a corner kick. Spain controlled the game for most of the match but their intricate passing set up few chances against the young German team.
Germany had been the in-form team of the 2010 World Cup, scoring four goals against Australia, England and Argentina, but they generated few chances against the technically superior Spanish players.
In the end the result was a repeat of the Euro 2008 final, 1-0 for Spain.
The World Cup final on Sunday will be against the Netherlands who have twice before reached the finals: losing on both occasions to Germany.
Spain have never before reached the final.
Links to other sites: Fifa, Guardian
Follow GenevaLunch’s daily recap of the 2010 World Cup.
Dutch fan ecstatic - Photo 2010 FWCLOC
Dutch fan ecstatic - Photo 2010 FWCLOC
International sports, World Cup football
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch.com) - Uruguay is out, after The Netherlands won 3-2 Tuesday night 6 July. This is the third time Holland will fight for the World Cup title.
Now all eyes are focused on the next semi-final match, Germany against Spain tonight at 20:30.
Here’s the squad list and background; Fifa wants to know who you think will win.
Follow GenevaLunch’s daily recap of the 2010 World Cup.
Links to other sites: Fifa World Cup, Guardian on the Dutch in the finals
Sole survivor’s aunt and uncle arrive in Tripoli
The Dutch child who is the sole survivor of the privately-owned Afriqiyah Air crash in Tripoli 12 May, an eight-year-old named Ruben, has been joined there by his aunt and uncle. His parents and older brother were killed in the crash and while he does not have life-threatening injuries, he has had surgery for multiple fractures to the lower half of his body and he’s under sedation, reports CNN. Investigators have the flight data recorder and are studying it to determine the cause of the crash.
Meanwhile, Dutch authorities now say that the flight, from Johannisburg in South Africa to Tripoli, was carrying 70 and not 58 Dutch citizens, as earlier reported. The other nationalities on the flight: six South Africans, two Libyans, two Austrians, one German, one French person, one Zimbabwean and two British citizens but the nationalities of others have not yet been provided to media. Politicians in The Netherlands have suspended their campaigns for parliamentary elections in June, to mourn the crash victims.
Links to other sites: Aljazeera, Radio Netherlands
Spain has agreed to Argentina’s request to extradite Dutch-Argentinian citizen Julio Alberto Poch, an airline pilot who is accused of having dumped bodies in the sea, from the air, under Argentina’s military regime, 1976-83. Poch was arrested in Valencia in September 2009, while working as a pilot for Dutch company Transavia. The flights, which he denies being part of, were known as the junta’s “death flights” and are alleged to have been linked to the disappearance of many of the 30,000 people who went missing under the regime’s rule.
London, England (GenevaLunch) – The Netherlands beat England on the final ball of the opening match of the world Twenty20 match at Lords.
A Dutch man, 38, drove his car into the Queen’s Day parade in east Amsterdam Thursday 30 April killing 5 people and wounding 12 others, say Dutch officials. The car missed his intended target, the bus carrying the queen and royal family, and crashed into a stone monument several meters away. The driver was injured in the crash and has been detained. The government cancelled the remaining official activities for the day. Financial Times
