The Swiss press has raised concerns about the safety conditions of a tunnel where 22 school children and six adults were killed in a coach crash.
Geneva based newspaper, Le Temps, asked: “Will the speed limit be lowered for heavy vehicles or will the design of the safety recesses be modified?”
The bus had entered the motorway tunnel, which has a speed limit of 100 kmh, on Tuesday (13 March) night, and, for reasons still unknown, it hit the right edge of the roadway and struck the emergency stop’s concrete wall.
Le Temps has also quoted the Swiss roads department, which has stated that the Sierre tunnel has the most modern ventilation standards, emergency exits, signalling and energy supply.
Newspapers across the country have hailed the crash as a national tragedy.
Blick, a mass circulation newspaper said it was “a black day for the history of our country”, emphasizing that words cannot express the pain of the victims’ families.
Het Nieuwsblad described the crash as an “immense sorrow”. “A school ski trip is not supposed to end this way,” an editorial said.
The coach, which was carrying 52 passengers, was travelling from the Val d’Anniviers ski resort towards the Swiss town of Sion on the A9 motorway when the accident happened at 9:15 pm (20:15 GMT).
(AFP 15/03/2012)
