Five dead as Dutch tourist coach overturns in eastern Switzerland

A coach overturned on a mountain road in the eastern Swiss canton of Graubünden this week, leaving five people dead and 40 injured, local police said on Friday.

The crash took place on Thursday on a stretch of road linking the villages of Susch and Zernez, deep in the Engadine valley.

"The Dutch coach was travelling from Zernez towards Susch at 4.45 pm. Near the village of Less, it veered off the road in a roadworks area and overturned. Of the 45 adults on board the coach, five died," a police report said.

"Three people were seriously injured, seven moderately seriously and 30 slightly," it added.

The Dutch Federation of Travel Agencies (ANVR) told AFP that the coach belonged to the tour company Oad, adding that all passengers were from the Netherlands.

Television footage from Swiss broadcasters showed emergency crews swarming the scene, working around the coach as it lay overturned on an embankment beside the carriageway. Helicopters were seen landing nearby to assist with the response.

According to the ANVR, the coach left the Netherlands on Monday and was on a day trip to Switzerland from Austria when the crash happened.

Zernez sits at the gateway to the Swiss National Park, a rugged Alpine reserve covering more than 100 square kilometres across the Engadine region, and is a popular starting point for visitors exploring the region.

Police say the investigation into the cause of the crash is ongoing.