A Swiss passenger train has been derailed after a landslide hit the tracks on a mountain pass between the Swiss ski resort of St Moritz and the town of Chur. Local Police are describing the situation as “serious.”
Passengers on board the train took to social media to send texts and photographs of the damage done to the train, which left one railway car hanging perilously over a ravine, whilst another had been thrown off the tracks and slid approximately 200 metres down the hillside.
An estimated 200 passengers were taken from the train and guided along the train line towards the village of Tiefencastel a distance of 1.5 kms away, where medics and locals are assisting the survivors.
According to the Vaz/Obervaz police there were several injuries and many people are in shock. Passengers with serious injuries or exhibiting cause for concern were airlifted to hospital by helicopter.
The accident happened amidst the dramatic scenery of the rocky gorge that runs for 10 kilometres between Tiefencastel and Sils im Domleschg.
According to passengers on social media the train made an emergency stop and several cars jumped off the train tracks. The area is noted for the occasional landslip but few with as dramatic consequences as this afternoon’s.
Between 50 and 100 rescue workers are on the scene, at least four search and rescue helicopters and more than 20 emergency vehicles. Police in an attempt to cover all eventualities called in divers to investigate the river at the bottom of the ravine.
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