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Twenty-Eight Killed In Swiss Bus Crash


Rescuers work at the entrance to the tunnel in Switzerland, where the fatal crash occurred.
Rescuers work at the entrance to the tunnel in Switzerland, where the fatal crash occurred.
Officials in Switzerland say 28 people – at least 22 of them children – have been killed in a bus accident.

The passengers were said to be mostly Belgian students who were returning from a skiing holiday.

Officials in the Netherlands said up to ten Dutch children were on the bus.

The bus, which was carrying 52 people, is reported to have crashed into the wall of a tunnel at around 9 p.m. local time on March 13 in the canton of Valais, near popular ski areas in the Swiss Alps.

Two bus drivers were among those killed, and 24 other children were injured.

Officials said the cause of the crash was not immediately known.

Swiss prosecutor Olivier Elsig said the bus was not speeding and the children were wearing safety belts. He said no other vehicle was involved.

The authorities said the bus was bringing the students home from a ski trip to their homes at Lommel and Haverlee in the Flanders region of Belgium.

Belgian Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo has called the accident a tragedy "for all of Belgium." On March 14, he declared a national day of mourning.

With AP,Reuters, and AFP reporting

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