Switzerland’s popular Alpine tourist train derailed today in the Alps, killing one person and injuring 42 others on its spectacular journey between Zermatt and St. Moritz. Three carriages from the Glacier Express came off the track for unknown reasons shortly after 12pm near a viaduct in the Goms Valley. Eyewitnesses said one carriage had tipped over and two others remained upright. No deaths have been reported so far.
Police said 12 of the injured were in serious condition and most of the passengers were Japanese tourists. Rescue workers were seen loading a few injured passengers onto medical helicopters to be flown out for treatment.
The Glacier Express is one of Switzerland’s best-known tourist trains. The 80-year-old train runs several times a day all year round, carrying some 250,000 passengers a year.
It starts in Zermatt, at the base of Switzerland’s iconic Matterhorn Mountain, and after 7 1/2 hours, 291 bridges and 91 tunnels, it ends in St. Moritz — one of the world’s ritziest winter resorts.
