Two Brits are among three dead after plane crashed in Swiss Alps
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By CAITLIN LENG
Published: | Updated:
Two Britons are among three confirmed dead following a plane crash in the Swiss Alps.
The small single-engine aeroplane crashed high in the mountains near the town of Leukerbad in the southern canton of Valais, Switzerland on Tuesday.
Valais cantonal police said in a statement the Cirrus SR22T aircraft took off from Sion Airport in the Rhône Valley and, for unknown reasons, collided with a mountain slope in the area of Fluhalp approximately 10 minutes later.
All three passengers aboard perished, police said, with work underway to identify the victims.
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has confirmed it is 'providing support to the families of two British nationals who died in Switzerland'.
'Our thoughts remain with the families during this difficult time,' the body said.
After taking off from Lugano in the southern Italian-speaking canton of Ticino, the aeroplane made a stop in the Valais city of Sion before heading off towards the Buochs aerodrome in the central canton of Nidwalden.
But after seeing smoke rising from the aircraft shortly following the crash at 4pm, residents alerted emergency services who rushed to the scene.
Three people, including two Britons, died on Tuesday after a small single-engine aeroplane crashed in the Alps in southwest Switzerland
Workers from the Valais Rescue Organisation attended the site, with three helicopters and two rescue specialists also deployed.
An investigation into the cause of the incident has since been opened by the federal Swiss authorities, and a criminal investigation is being led by the Office of the Attorney General of the Confederation, in collaboration with the Valais cantonal police.
A picture of the crash site shared by local police showed the wreckage of the plane on a mountainside.
In a statement, local police said: 'Shortly after 4pm, for reasons yet to be determined, the aircraft collided with the northern slope of a mountain in the Fluhalp area of Leukerbad. Signs of smoke were subsequently reported in the region.'
The tragedy comes just days after several people died after a coach carrying tourists crashed and flipped over on a mountain road in Switzerland.
The tour coach carrying 48 people overturned in the eastern Swiss canton of Graubunden, the largest holiday region in Switzerland, at 8pm last Thursday.
The vehicle hit a safety barrier before flipping over and plunging down the embankment, a local police spokesperson told Swiss media.
Emergency services swarmed the scene, working around the coach as it lay on its side on an embankment next to the carriageway. Helicopters were seen landing near the incident.
The Dutch Federation of Travel Agencies (ANVR) identified the coach as belonging to Oad, a Dutch tour company that runs holiday trips across Europe. It added all 48 passengers were from the Netherlands.
Local authorities confirmed the fatalities, though they have not released the number of victims nor nationalities.
'Several people died in the coach crash in Susch. Several others were also injured,' the cantonal police said on X, without giving details on the circumstances of the accident or the victims' identities.
A police spokesman said that the force did not wish to provide a more detailed toll until the victims' families had been informed.
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