Fiesch derailment | |
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Details | |
Date | 23 July 2010 |
Location | Fiesch |
Country | Switzerland |
Operator | Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn |
Incident type | derailment |
Statistics | |
Trains | 1 |
Deaths | 1 |
Injured | 40 |
The Fiesch derailment occurred on Friday 23 July 2010, at 11:50 CET [1] when a Glacier Express train, from Zermatt heading towards St. Moritz, derailed at low speed between the cities of Lax and Fiesch, Canton Valais, Switzerland.
Two rear panorama cars were overturned while a third car derailed but remained on the track. [2]
A 64-year-old Japanese woman was killed and 42 people were injured and taken to hospital. The day after the accident 17 persons (16 Japanese, 1 Spanish) were still in hospital care. [2]
The cause of the accident was blamed on human error in that the driver was going too fast. [3] Traffic resumed on Sunday 25 July after repair and the railway had been declared safe by the Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn (operator of the Glacier Express). [4]
On 7 March 2011, it was announced that the engineer of the train at the time of its crash had been convicted of homicide and negligence, and would face a fine of 15,000 Swiss francs. [5]
The Investigation Bureau for Railway, Funicular and Boat Accidents investigated the accident.