Carriage accident leaves one dead and twelve injured in eastern Switzerland

It was an unusual accident which occurred in a wooded area in eastern Switzerland. A horse-drawn carriage crashed into a tree during an excursion, leaving one dead and twelve injured on Saturday. A group of around forty people were on an excursion in Val Roseg, an alpine valley in Graubünden, near the Italian border, according to a police press release.

The participants were divided into two teams. The damaged team consisted of a lead carriage followed by two trailers also intended for passengers. “On a sloping section, the driver noticed that the braking power was insufficient and tried, with his team of three horses, to deviate towards a flatter area in order to slow down,” explains the press release.

Passengers ejected

“At the start of this maneuver, one of the horses fell” and the driver lost control of the carriage which violently hit a tree, ejecting some passengers from the vehicle, he adds. Twelve passengers were injured, two of them seriously, and a 73-year-old woman died on the spot, according to the police, who do not give information on nationalities but specify that the people resided in Switzerland.

The injured were transported to nearby hospitals aboard three helicopters and four ambulances. The authorities have opened an investigation to determine the course and circumstances of the accident.