Road and rail

18.5, collision, fatalities

Switzerland: three people were killed in the town of Thun when a construction train that failed to brake was intentionally crashed into a parked train to end an uncontrolled, 30-km downhill journey. The victims were two Swiss employees of the train owner BLS Loetschbergbahn AG and a construction worker from Germany. The train, consisting of a locomotive and five wagons, crashed into two parked wagons and then continued on for about 200 metres before stopping. Rail traffic between the towns of Thun and Spiez was suspended. International trains were being diverted through Lausanne in central Switzerland.