Switzerland’s Alpine idyll has been shattered by a relentless blizzard onslaught. A passenger train derailed violently near Goppenstein on Monday morning due to an abrupt snow surge, hospitalizing five passengers. As the crisis deepens, meteorologists caution that avalanche threats endure, with high-level warnings in effect for the week ahead.
The 6:12 a.m. service from Spiez to Brig carried 80 souls when disaster struck near 7 a.m. Overwhelmed by cascading ice, the train jumped tracks in south Switzerland. Emergency responders evacuated dozens safely, deploying helicopters for the hurt amid swirling snow. This marks the latest blow in a storm system that has already proven lethal.
Preceding the derailment, Category 5 avalanche alerts blanketed key Alpine sectors – the pinnacle of danger scales, foretelling cataclysmic natural events. Transportation grinds to a halt: highways impassable, trains stalled until Tuesday at earliest. The toll mounts from recent incidents, including Sunday’s fatal slide in Davos claiming a 38-year-old local snowboarder off-piste in Parsenn’s Schwarz horn zone.
Alerted at 1:30 p.m. by his partner, searchers unearthed the victim too late. Just days prior, France’s Val d’Isère witnessed three deaths – two British skiers and an instructor – in a similar whiteout ambush. With cleanup underway and forecasts grim, Swiss authorities implore vigilance, underscoring the Alps’ unforgiving temperament in winter’s grip.