In the Swiss canton of Bern, two regional trains derailed yesterday in stormy weather. According to the police, a total of fifteen people were injured yesterday, one of them seriously.
According to a police spokesman, the accidents happened in the afternoon near Lüscherz and Büren zum Hof. Possible causes are strong gusts of wind, at the time of the derailment a storm was raging.
Wind peaks of over 130 km/h
The storm “Mathis” swept across parts of Switzerland yesterday. As the state weather service MeteoSwiss announced on Saturday, wind peaks of over 130 km/h were measured in places.
At around 4:30 p.m., a railcar from the Aare Seeland Mobil transport company fell on its side near Lüscherz station in strong winds and slid a few meters over a small embankment. Three people sustained injuries, including the train driver. The railway operator Aare Seeland Mobil spoke on its website of a derailment due to a natural phenomenon.
Shortly thereafter, a train operated by the Regionalverkehr Bern-Solothurn (RBS) transport company derailed 40 kilometers away. According to the canton police, twelve people were injured, one of them seriously.
At the time of this accident, a nearby measuring station recorded a gust of 136 km/h, according to the private weather service MeteoNews – that is hurricane force. RBS spoke of strong gusts of wind as a possible cause. Both trains derailed on narrow-gauge lines.
