Three Rega air ambulances on 12 March 2012, the first time in the company's history that all three have flown at once. Rega is a Swiss non-profit foundation that in its own words "comes to the aid of people in distress, providing swift, professional medical assistance by air"
ZURICH, SWITZERLAND – Rega, the Swiss air emergency service, flew three girls home to Belgium today from the Chuv University hospitals in Lausanne, where they were in critical condition until Saturday for one and Monday for the two others.
The three were the last of the children injured in the 13 March Sierre bus crash to be flown home. The crash killed 28 people and injured another 24.
Rega flew home the children and numerous members of their famillies in one of its three ambulance jets. They were flown in a Challenger CL-604 on two flights from Payerne in canton Vaud to Brussels.
Rega carried, in total, 18 children and their family members back to Belgium on nine separate flights.
The company notes in a statement issued by Valais police that “On 16 March – the day of the first repatriations – Rega deployed its entire air ambulance fleet. This was the first time in the history of Swiss Air-Rescue that all three of its jets were in operation at the same time.”
New bear park in Bern, Switzerland
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - A 25-year-old man who was injured when he climbed the wall of the new bear park in Bern, then slipped, is in stable condition after he was attacked by one of the bears. Finn, the nearly 4-year-old male who injured him, was wounded by gunfire from a policeman who was trying to save the young man, and the bear is in serious condition, according to Bernd Schildger, the head of Dählhölzli, the animal park of which the bear pit is a part. If Finn survives, which is not yet clear, he will not be put down, says Schildger.
Police have not been able to determine why the man, who is mentally handicapped, decided to climb the wall, where he crouched for a moment before falling four metres into the bears’ den.
Neuchatel, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Prices for goods produced in Switzerland remained stable, down only negligibly and prices of imported goods were also stable, with only a very slight rise in July, the Swiss Statistical Office said Friday 14 August. This is the second month in a row that prices have remained stable. Prices are down 6.1 percent overall year on year, compared to July 2008, but the main reason is a significant drop in the price of oil compared to 12 months earlier.
