Tourist coach crash in Swiss Alps leaves several dead

A tourist coach crashed in the south-eastern Swiss Alps on Thursday afternoon, killing several people and injuring others, local police have confirmed.

The bus overturned on a narrow country road between the villages of Susch and Zernez in the Graubünden (Grisons) region. A large team of rescuers, supported by several helicopters, was sent to the site.

Around 48 Dutch passengers

Approximately 48 passengers from the Netherlands were travelling on the coach, according to a spokeswoman for the General Dutch Association of Travel Companies, speaking on behalf of tour operator OAD. She told Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf that it was not yet possible to say how many people had died or been injured.

Photographs published by Swiss news outlets show the coach lying on its side beside the narrow road, surrounded by ambulances and rescue teams working at the scene.

The coach reportedly departed the Netherlands on Monday and was on a day trip to Switzerland from Austria at the time of the crash.

Zernez serves as the gateway to the Swiss National Park, a vast Alpine reserve covering more than 100 square kilometres in the mountainous Engadine valley.