Saxetenbach Gorge
Saxetenbach Gorge is a narrow ravine near Interlaken above Lake Brienz in Switzerland.
1999 Accident
On 27 July 1999, there was an accident in the Saxetenbach Gorge, just above the village of Saxeten, in which 21 young people from Australia, New Zealand, England, South Africa, and Switzerland died.
48 people from 2 coach tour parties had opted to do a side activity of canyoning where you float, swim and climb through an area, such as a gorge. It was organized by Adventure World, a now defunct company who were located in Wilderswil, not far from Saxeten.
At 6pm, flash floods began pouring through the gorge and 21 people within the group were swept to their deaths. 18 were tourists and 3 were canyon guides. By 7pm, the stories had hit the world's news screens, and the hotels people were staying in were bombarded with phone calls, but the staff only saw what was on television.[1]
The survivors were rescued and then questioned by Swiss Polizei before being released and returned to their hotel at 1am the next morning. Until then they had no idea how many people had died nor the enormity of the disaster.[1]
Identifying the dead bodies was a serious problem for the Swiss authorities, the bodies were badly traumatized. 11 survivors opted to go and identify the dead at the mortuary, but many had to be identified through DNA and dental analysis.[1][2]
Families were desperate to see for themselves what had happened, and Swissair along with Swiss medical services provided meet & greet sessions for families, and also much counseling for those who had been present.[1]
Bodies of the dead washed up in Lake Brienz, a popular boating lake during peak Summer tourist season.
Since the incident, there has been much rumor released into the press about what happened. Emergency services claim they sent someone to tell the group of the impending storms, and families of the dead claim that the company should have seen the signs of the weather. Swiss authorities were quick to blame profit making and general negligence as the cause of the accident.[3]
After the disaster, Adventure World went out of business. Their former premises, near the Wilderswil Station, are now occupied by a bank. In 2001, some of the staff at Adventure World were charged in connection to the deaths. A total of six staff members were found guilty of manslaughter through culpable negligence and given suspended sentences of between two and five months and fined between 4,000 and 7,500 CHF.[4][5]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Case Study
- ↑ Victims battered beyond recognition
- ↑ Profit drive blamed for disaster
- ↑ "Undertaking to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission given for the purposes of Section 87B". Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. 2002. Retrieved April 5, 2013.
- ↑ "21 Menschen starben im Saxetbach". 20 Minuten Online. 26 July 2009. Retrieved April 5, 2013. (German)
External links
- A storm in the distance an Outside Magazine article about the canyoning accident.
Coordinates: 46°39′34″N 7°52′3″E / 46.65944°N 7.86750°E