Search for missing Spanish canyoning tourist resumes
The search for a Spaniard who went missing in a canyoning accident resumed on Friday afternoon after an interruption due to bad weather. Three of his compatriots have already been found dead after being taken by surprise by a severe storm in northeastern Switzerland on Wednesday.
This content was published on
2 minutes
Keystone-SDA/ac
Español
es
Tres españoles mueren en un accidente de barranquismo en Suiza
Police said poor weather conditions on Friday morning made the search too dangerous to continue. A search team combed the area on Friday and again on Saturday, small teams were deployed to continue the search for the missing tourist.
The bodies of three Spanish tourists, who made up the rest of the canyoning group, were found on Thursday morning. The accident occurred in the Parlitobel Gorge near Pfäfers in canton St Gallen.
According to police, the Spaniards were canyoning on their own and had not hired a guide as they were familiar with the adventure sport. The men aged 30, 33, 38 and 48 years old were also accompanied by two women, one of whom was the wife of one of the victims. They all hail from the region of Navarre in northern Spain and arrived in Switzerland a few days ago to go canyoning.
External Content
The six Spaniards were in the upper part of the gorge around 4pm on Wednesday. The two women walked down the path back into the valley and the four men started their descent into the gorge. The unfortunate four did not arrive at the rendezvous point at the scheduled time and the women alerted the police around 7pm.
Rescue teams had already been hampered by the weather when they were called out on Wednesday evening. Due to the ongoing operation, access to the accident site has been cordoned off by the police.
Prime Minister of Spain Pedro Sànchez expressed his condolences to the family of the victims and thanked the Swiss rescuers for their search efforts.
External Content
Mi cariño para las familias y amigos de los turistas españoles fallecidos tras un fatal accidente mientras practicaban barranquismo al norte de Suiza.
It was a Swiss canyoning accident over two decades ago that kickstarted the movement to make safety certifications compulsory for adventure sports companies. In 1999, 21 adventure-seekers, mostly Australians, lost their lives in a canyoning mishap in Saxeten in the popular tourist region of Interlaken.
More
More
Safety still a question 20 years after Interlaken canyoning accident
This content was published on
A canyoning tragedy 20 years ago in which 21 people died still provokes debate about safety standards for risk sports.
Should raw milk sales be banned or should consumers decide?
Swiss food regulations do not allow raw milk to be sold for direct consumption. However, a loophole allows 400 raw milk vending machines to do just that.
Is artificial intelligence an advantage or a disadvantage for workers?
What is your experience with AI at work? Have you already used it? Has it helped you work better? Or has it caused you more stress, more work or caused you to lose your job? Tell us about your experiences!
Austrian right-wing extremist arrested by Swiss police
This content was published on
The Austrian right-wing extremist Martin Sellner entered Switzerland on Saturday despite being banned from entering the country.
All Swiss listed companies have a climate strategy
This content was published on
All major listed Swiss companies have a climate strategy. This puts Switzerland ahead of neighbouring Germany and Austria, says a study by Kirchhoff Consult and BDO.
Local birds are stars of this year’s Bern light show
This content was published on
The Rendez-vous Bundesplatz light show enters a new round on Saturday. This year, birds will be chirping, squawking and fluttering all over the façade of the federal parliament.
EU urges countries to keep demining in Ukraine permanently on the agenda
This content was published on
The Lausanne Ministerial Conference on Humanitarian Demining in Ukraine led to pledges from more than 40 countries to help the war-torn country.
This content was published on
Researchers at the University of Zurich have used artificial intelligence to detect antibiotic-resistant germs for the first time.
This content was published on
The two guides, Simon Wiget and Stefan Abegglen, were responsible for one of the four groups which took part in the fateful canyoning trip on July 27,1999. Eight of the 11 tourists in their group lost their lives in a wall of water. Wiget rejected statements by a survivor who said he and Abegglen had…
This content was published on
But they warn that despite the subsequent introduction of a set of standards under the Safety in Adventures scheme, the element of risk – and the consequences – will always remain. Earlier this month, two women died in a white water rafting accident near Wilderswil, in the Bernese Oberland. Along with five other passengers and…
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.