Khaberni - 5 people were injured in a train derailment on Monday morning in Goppenstein in the Swiss Alps, and an investigation has been opened to reveal the circumstances of the accident, which may be related to an avalanche.
The Valais Canton police announced on the X platform "a train derailment at 7:00 (6:00 GMT)" on the track that connects the areas of Goppenstein and Hohtenn in southwest Switzerland.
The police stated in a statement that the train was carrying 29 people, and that five of them were injured, including a woman who had to be hospitalized. First aid was provided to the other four on the site, and their condition did not require hospitalization.
The police continued, "According to preliminary investigations, avalanches may have reached the track just before the train passed", and pointed out that the public prosecutor in the Canton of Valais opened an investigation to reveal the circumstances of the train's derailment.
A spokesman for the Valais Canton police, Daniel Imboden, said in a statement to a Swiss television station, "We noticed large amounts of snow on the tracks. But did this snow get there as a result of an avalanche or in another way? This is what the investigation will have to clarify."
On Thursday, avalanches buried part of a main road leading to the Goppenstein area, disrupting traffic for hours, without recording any injuries or damages.
The Swiss top the list of train users in Europe in terms of kilometers per individual, with an average of 2519 kilometers per person in the year 2024, according to the Swiss agency "Keystone-ATS".
