Avalanche rescue operation Sunday, Diemtigtal, canton Bern, Switzerland
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Police in canton Bern say that a fourth person rescued from an avalanche in the Bernese Oberland region has died, and three are now listed as missing. The accident took place Sunday morning 3 January in an area not generally considered to be a high risk zone. A first person went missing when a ski touring group was caught by the avalanche and shortly after rescuers arrived a second avalanche hit the area, burying several others, including one of the Rega helicopter service doctors, who died later in hospital.
TSR reports Monday morning that the three skiers suspected of setting off the 27 December avalanche that rolled over a groomed slope in Anzeres have been arrested. Valais police have not yet made an official announcement.
Background story, Bern avalanche, GenevaLunch
Background story, Anzeres avalanche, GenevaLunch
Myles Robinson and his father Michael
Update 20:58 Wengen, canton Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – British tourist Myles Robinson, age 23, who has been coming to Wengen for 15 years with his family, is still missing: he disappeared and there has been no trace of him since the early hours of Tuesday 22 December despite searches by helicopter, with infrared, with sniffer dogs. His cell phone gave off signals from the area until noon Tuesday. The public in and around Wengen have been appealed to, to be on the lookout for any signs of the young man. His parents and sister Cara, with whom he had arrived Monday 21 December in Switzerland, for a two-week holiday, are working closely with authorities in Wengen to find him.
Description of Myles Robinson’s clothing the night he disappeared
Cara supplied GenevaLunch with this description of what Myles was wearing when he disappeared: “On the night Myles was missing he was wearing light blue denim jeans, a white short sleeve polo shirt with a red Artois Tennis Championship crest on the left breast, a big black coat with grey checks and white Asics trainers.”
He does not speak German (Wengen is German-speaking) or French.
Police are not saying publicly that foul play is suspected, but those who know Myles say that he would not wander off.
GenevaLunch is publishing a series of photos of him to encourage the public to be on the lookout for any signs of Myles.
Background stories, GenevaLunch
Wengen, canton Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - A 23-year-old British man, Myles Robinson, has gone missing in the small resort of Wengen, a town in a region he knows well, having spent vacations in the area for the past 15 years. He was last seen dropping a friend off at her hotel, near the Blue Monkey bar in the town at 02:00 Tuesday 22 December. He was vacationing with his family, who have told UK media that “he’s a normal boy. He would never wander off. We are a really close family.”
The Swiss army have reportedly been called in to help in the search to find him, but locals who saw him at the bar, interviewed by the British media, say they find the disappearance “very strange” and inexplicable.
Links to other sites: BBC, Daily Mail, UK Times, UK, and Myles Robinson’s Facebook page
Eleven people are missing after heavy rain and flooding washed out bridges and roads, and put towns under several feet of water in England and Scotland. The storms were expected but their impact nevertheless caught many areas by surprise. Cumbria in England, on the border with Scotland, was the worst-hit area. Heavy rain and gale-force winds are forecast in the area and for much of the UK in the next few days. Flood alerts are continuing and some rail service is likely to be disrupted.
Twelve people have been confirmed dead following the explosion Monday 17 August of Russia’s largest power plant, Sayano-Shushenskaya in Siberia, but the owner of the plant says the 63 missing people are likely to have drowned. The cause of the explosion is not yet known, but turbines were destroyed and power cut to a large area. Late Tuesday the Natural Resources Ministry said transformer oil had spread 80 kilometres along the Yenisei River. The oil, used for insulating and cooling, was released when a transformer exploded. Financial Times, Novosti
A cargo boat that disappeared in European waters in recent days is causing worry in the maritime industry, with speculation that it might be the first case of piracy in the busy international waters around Europe. The Arctic Sea was last heard from 28 July when it made a routine report to British authorities as it passed through the English Channel. Four days earlier the crew had reported they were attacked off a Swedish island and beaten up by a group of men who said they were Swedish police, and they later reported that the group had left in a speedboat. The cargo ship, which carries a Maltese flag and is registered in Russia, was expected to make port in Algeria 4 August, but never showed up. It is carrying timber worth $2 million, according to Russian reports, but media are speculating that it could also be carrying a secret cargo of drugs, which could perhaps explain its mysterious disappearance. Russia Today, The Globe & Mail/AP,
A 19-year-old British backpacker, Jamie Neale of North London, has been found after 12 days in the Australian Blue Mountains, safe but dehydrated and suffering from exposure. He had gone out for a day trip, leaving behind his passport and cell phone, and when he failed to return a search was undertaken. An Australian official says the youth was “very, very lucky” to survive. BBC, The Age
The Italian government now says that 207 bodies have been found and another 50 people are reported missing, but 1,500 are injured and 17,000 are homeless after the earthquake that hit Aquila in the early hours of Monday. Reuters
