Bus Crash Kills 22 Children On Ski Holiday

A bus crash in Switzerland has killed 28 Belgian and Dutch tourists, 22 of them children, as they returned from a ski trip.

The vehicle was travelling towards Sion when it veered to the right, hit a kerb and smashed into a concrete wall of a tunnel in the Swiss Alps, near the border with Italy.

Another 24 children were injured in the crash.

Six adults, including the two drivers of the coach, died in the accident.

The bus, which was carrying 52 people, crashed on Tuesday night in the canton of Valais, an area of popular ski resorts.

Parties from two schools in Belgium were travelling on the bus from Val d'Anniviers back to Belgium along the A9 motorway when the accident happened.

Most of the children were aged around 12, and the bus was one of three hired by a Christian group.

Familes of the victims are being flown to Switzerland by military aircraft.

An investigation to determine the cause of the crash is under way.

Belgium's Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo, who will also be travelling to the crash scene, said this is "an extremely sad day for all of Belgium".

A statement from his office said: "The prime minister learned with dismay of the horrible accident that happened in Switzerland.

"This is a tragic day for all of Belgium.

"His first thoughts go to the victims, to the members of their family and their loved ones."

Swiss President Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf will also be visiting the site.

Jan Luykx, the Belgian ambassador to Switzerland, who went straight to the site of the crash, said: "This tragedy will hit the whole of Belgium."

The impact of the smash was so severe many passangers were trapped in the wreckage and had to be freed by rescuers.

Around 200 police, firefighters and medics worked through the night on board the bus, its front ripped open and broken glass and debris strewn across the road.

Eight helicopters and a dozen ambulances ferried survivors to hospitals in the Valais region, as well as to Bern and Lausanne.

Jean-Pierre Deslarzes, a surgeon in one of the hospitals, said: "All the rescuers were shocked by what they have experienced.

"The magnitude of the accident is difficult to digest."

Swiss newspaper Blick said the coach was heading back to the cities of Lommel, close to the Dutch border, and Heverlee in Flanders.

Distraught families rushed to Saint Lambertus School in Heverlee and the Stekske school in Lommel for news about their loved ones.

Marc Carels, headteacher of Saint Lambertus School, which had 22 pupils, a teacher and a classroom assistant on the trip, said: "We know some of the children are ok, but we don't have names.

"We asked the parents to come and we are trying to comfort them."

Deputy mayor of Lommel, Kris Verduyckt, said: "The first thing we did was gather the parents here and gave them the information we had.

"A lot of people are calling us asking for more information."

Peter Vanvelthoven, the mayor of Lommel, joined relatives on a convoy of buses to a military base to be flown to the crash scene.

Transport Minister Melchior Wathelet said: "I'm at a loss for words. Terribly hurt, terribly moved.

"We are all thinking like parents, with this terrible thought for those parents who will not see their children coming back.

"Yesterday evening, they were looking forward to seeing them and they won't see them again."

More to follow...