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Passengers airlifted to hospital following Swiss rail crash

Thursday, 14 August 20143 min read

Five people were seriously injured and six others sustained slight injuries following a rail accident in the Swiss Alps.

The tourist train, on a trip from Chur to the upmarket ski resort of St Mortiz, derailed when it hit a landslide triggered by heavy rain.

One of the carriages fell into a ravine and got lodged behind a tree. Another was left hanging over a steep drop.

Passengers in the one left hanging were forced to crawl up to one end to try to shift the weight in the wagon and prevent it from plunging over the edge.

Police divers were deployed in a reservoir below because it was feared the carriage would fall in.

There were 200 people on board the train and more than half were able to walk down the track to safety.

The train is operated by Rhaetische Bahn, which runs a network of narrow-gauge routes in Switzerland’s mountainous southeastern corner.

The privately run train operator serves a number of major tourist centres, including St Moritz and Davos, and also crosses the Bernina Pass to the Italian border and on to Tirano.