Several dead as Dutch tour coach crashes in Switzerland

A tour coach carrying 48 Dutch passengers crashed on a mountain road in eastern Switzerland on Thursday afternoon, leaving several people dead and a number of others injured, according to Graubünden cantonal police. The accident occurred at around 4:45 pm local time on the road between the villages of Susch and Zernez, deep in the Engadine valley. Police said the coach struck a safety barrier, overturned and plunged down an embankment beside the carriageway. No other vehicles were believed to have been involved, a police spokesman said. The Dutch Federation of Travel Agencies, ANVR, confirmed that the coach belonged to the Dutch tour company Oad and was carrying 48 passengers, all of them from the Netherlands. According to the association, the group had departed the Netherlands on Monday and was on a day excursion into Switzerland from Austria. Emergency crews responded in force. Television footage from Swiss broadcasters showed rescue teams working around the overturned coach, and several ambulances and five helicopters were deployed to the scene, according to Swiss media. A police spokesperson said the road between Zernez and Susch remained closed following the accident.