Visit to Switzerland

Grandson (9) and grandparents die in horror crash

Rickenstrasse resembled a field of rubble after the accident.

(Bild: KaPo St. Gallen)

A horrific traffic accident claimed the lives of three people in the Swiss municipality of Wattwil (canton of St. Gallen) on Thursday afternoon. The Audi of a 76-year-old man crossed into the oncoming lane and collided head-on with a postal bus. Not only were the driver and his passenger killed in the collision, but also a 9-year-old child in the back seat.

At around 4.15 pm, a 76-year-old man was driving with his 75-year-old wife and a 9-year-old child in the back seat on Rickenstrasse from Wattwil towards Ricken. Behind them was a 49-year-old woman driving her Mercedes. In a slight right-hand bend in the Vorderer Hummelwald area, the Audi crossed the center line for reasons as yet unknown, according to the police. At the same time, a 68-year-old man was driving a Postbus, which was being used as a rail replacement service, in the opposite direction. This resulted in a head-on collision between the Audi and the Postbus. The force of the collision caused the car to be thrown back into its lane, where it collided head-on with the Mercedes.

There were several minor injuries in the Postbus and the driver had to be airlifted to hospital.

(Bild: KaPo St. Gallen)

When the emergency services arrived, they were only able to determine that the 76-year-old Audi driver and his passenger had died. The 9-year-old boy was resuscitated by the emergency services and the emergency doctor at the scene. Unfortunately, the resuscitation had to be terminated without success and the child also died at the scene.

The scene of the accident in the canton of St. Gallen.

(Bild: KaPo St. Gallen)

According to the police, the two adults who died are German nationals from the Siegen-Wittgenstein district in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The 9-year-old boy is said to be a German resident in the region. According to research by the St. Galler Tagblatt, it was the grandparents and their grandson, whom they were visiting in Switzerland.

The Mercedes driver was uninjured, the driver of the Postbus was injured to an undetermined degree and had to be flown to hospital by Rega air ambulance. There were several dozen passengers on the Postbus at the time of the accident. Some of them suffered minor injuries and were treated by the emergency services. None of the passengers had to be taken to hospital.