Belgian PM Elio Di Rupo said it was "a tragic day for all of Belgium".
'Incomprehensible'


the green painted section is what the bus hit


The bus crashed shortly after 21:00 (20:00 GMT) on Tuesday.

In Brussels, the Belgian foreign ministry said most of the children were aged around 12, and the bus was one of three hired by a Christian group. The other two reached Belgium safely.

Scene of crash, Switzerland, 14 March 2012 The coach is removed from the crash scene. It appears to have travelled along the right hand wall of the tunnel and collided head-on with the concrete wall (right) that provides emergency access

The children had spent a week skiing in Val d'Anniviers in the Swiss Alps.

Those on board the bus that crashed were from 't Stekske primary school in Lommel, close to the Dutch border, and from Sint Lambertusschool in Heverlee, near Leuven, with Belgian media saying the numbers were roughly even.

Eight of the children involved are Dutch, the Dutch foreign ministry said, with all but one of them living in Belgium.

Belgian Transport Minister Melchior Wathelet said the company that ran the coach, Toptours, had "an excellent reputation".

He said: "The drivers had arrived the night before and had rested during the day before departure. It seems that the law on driving and rest periods has been respected."

Both of the coach's drivers were among the dead.

Distraught relatives have been arriving at the schools in Belgium, with identification of the dead and injured still not complete.

Andre Joseph Leonard, the archbishop of Belgium, who is in Heverlee, told Associated Press: "There is this terrible fear and uncertainty. There are about eight about whom we don't know what happened, leaving their parents in terrible fear."

Swiss prosecutor Olivier Elsig told a news conference the bus was new, or nearly new, and was equipped with safety belts.

In a tunnel where the speed limit is 100km/h (62 mph), Mr Elsig said the bus collided with the right-hand wall and then hit, head-on, a concrete wall that forms part of an emergency access section. An investigation is under way.

More than 200 people and eight helicopters were involved in the rescue operation.

Some of the injured were flown by helicopters to hospitals in Lausanne, Bern and other Swiss cities.
Man holding flowers in Heverlee, Belgium, 14 Mar 2012 The town of Heverlee is trying to come to terms with the tragedy

Swiss journalist Ruth Seeholzer told the BBC that the two-lane tunnel was not busy with traffic when the accident happened and driving conditions were normal.

The Belgian royal family has issued statements expressing deep shock at the tragedy.

Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders said: "It is incomprehensible. There were three buses and only one was in an accident, without any contact with another vehicle."

A helpline for families has been set up, and many relatives are expected to arrive in Switzerland later.

Belgium has made two aircraft available to take them to the country.

Belgium's ambassador to Switzerland, Jan Luykx, has already travelled to the crash site.

He said: "This tragedy will hit the whole of Belgium. The magnitude of the accident is difficult to take in. For the moment I am concentrating on the practical aspects. The emotional side will come when we meet the families."

European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso sent his "sincere condolences and deepest sympathy" to the victims' relatives.

The European Parliament was to observe a minute's silence at noon.

The head of the Valais region, Jacques Melly, also expressed his deep sadness at the accident and praised the rescuers for their work in "extremely difficult conditions".

:D

That is just terrible. My thoughts are with the families of these little ones.

Mournblade wrote:

:D

if you are referring 2 my use of 'bairn' then that is a Scots word not Cymraeg

Dewi_Sant wrote:

Mournblade wrote:

:D

if you are referring 2 my use of 'bairn' then that is a Scots word not Cymraeg

Yeah, I know.

I was just looking for an excuse to post that.

Fixed the subjec line for you.

They said it was incomprehensible?

Who the fuck designed a tunnel with a goddam wall facing traffic in it?

I_brake_4_camels wrote:

That is just terrible. My thoughts are with the families of these little ones.

Fat lot of good it will do.

NOZZLE wrote:

Fixed the subjec line for you.

They said it was incomprehensible?

Who the fuck designed a tunnel with a goddam wall facing traffic in it?

Whose idea wos it to paint it fucking green: no reflectors and no fucking Armco. The authorities for the tunnel should be made responsible.

Dewi_Sant wrote:

Mournblade wrote:

:D

if you are referring 2 my use of 'bairn' then that is a Scots word not Cymraeg

Geordie too.

I have driven that tunnel - you would have to be a complete retard to wall fuck there. It's mostly a straight shot.

Than again we are talking Belgians here

I don't remember ever seeing any posted tunnel speed limit exceeding 80 kmh, in Switzerland

This is Gran San Bernardo right?

There should at least been a guard railing just before that outcropping of green painted wall there.

Obviously the Switz don't do tunnels, unless buses full of little children can splatter in them !!! So Sad

Seems the moral of the story is to avoid European tunnels. You got princess Diana and now this. Really sad.

SevenSeventeen wrote:

I have driven that tunnel - you would have to be a complete retard to wall fuck there. It's mostly a straight shot.

Than again we are talking Belgians here

Prick .

There is a sharp curve , clearly seen in the photo . The maximum speed allowed is 60kmh , the police have stated the driver was not speeding . So you have driven this tunnel have you ? I think not , fuckstain .

Swiss coach crash driver 'was putting on a DVD'

The driver of the coach which crashed into a tunnel wall killing 22 children and six adults was trying to put a DVD film on seconds before impact, it has been claimed.

www.telegraph.co.uk . . .

Surrender_Monkey wrote:

There should at least been a guard railing just before that outcropping of green painted wall there.

That's one of the last tunnels built with an outcropping as an escape route. They will more than likely install guard rails around it.
When the bus lost control, it first swerved left before swerving back right again. The kids were buckled in and died of injuries sustained as the seats were ripped out of their anchorage upon impact. If the bus driver was instinctively applying brakes, the bus should have slowed down enough for the seats to have remained in place. If the bus was a Van Hool product, I could imagine that the seats would not keep intact

mournblade wrote:

...The driver of the coach which crashed into a tunnel wall killing 22 children and six adults was trying to put a DVD film on seconds before impact, it has been claimed...

Maybe, the bus driver was simply obeying a suggestion to violently swing the steering wheel back and forth which was mysteriously whipered into his ear from a sinister paranormal source

I was right. The seats of a Mercedes bus have never been known to dislodge at such low speeds:

www.tagesschau.sf.tv . . .

wrote:

...Es handelte sich um einen Bus der Marke Van Hool, Modell T916 Altano, Baujahr 2002...

This bus was produced in Belgium:

www.autoevolution.com . . .

wrote:

...Founded in 1947 by Bernard Van Hool, the company is located at Koningshooikt, near the city of Lier, Belgium...

Is it any wonder?

This was a tragic accident that effected all of Europe, anyone with a child is also hurting for the parents of the lost children. I am curious as to why it happened, too many rumors flying now, like the driver was changing a cd, a heart attack, fell asleep, bla, bla, bla. RIP!

Dead kids always makes us feel that war is worthwhile.

bloodhound wrote:

...I am curious as to why it happened, too many rumors flying now...

Hitting that embankment square on was indeed a fluke. One would more likely win the lottery or get struck by lightning. Especially, when such a bus (the equivalent to an Airbus Air France on wheels) was chosen.
I still think a sinister entity took over that bus driver's decision making process and caused the well-timed incident.
You people might think it over, the next time you charter a flight, now that you mentioned flying