River accident victims remembered in Thun

Defence Minister Samuel Schmid called for "rapid clarification" of the accident circumstances at the service Keystone

A memorial service for five soldiers involved in a deadly boating exercise on Thursday has taken place in Thun, canton Bern.

Defence Minister Samuel Schmid and army chief Roland Nef attended the ceremony at the city’s main church, along with friends, family and colleagues of the four soldiers who died and one who remains missing.

Schmid expressed his sorrow and sympathy, saying that while there was speculation that mistakes were made, “we simply don’t yet know that for certain”.

He said he understood the powerlessness and anger regarding the accident and the unanswered questions and that he wanted “rapid clarification”, but added that “now is not the time for criticism and rash judgements”.

Now was the time for mourning, tears and silence, he said in his speech, which was titled “Being there, lending a hand, listening and drying the tears”.

Nef said the army would fulfil its responsibilities towards the victims’ families, who would receive individual counselling.

Suspicions of negligence

On June 12 two rubber boats capsized on the River Kander in the Bernese Oberland. Three bodies were found on the day, two other soldiers were missing and the other five ended up in hospital.

Two days later rescuers found the body of one of the missing soldiers. Rescue specialists and troops are still searching for the fifth man.

The accident happened during what Swiss media have reported as being a team-building exercise, but it remains unclear what went wrong.

The army has so far not said whether the boats were designed for the type of exercise that was undertaken, or whether soldiers had already travelled down the Kander this way before.

A preliminary inquiry is investigating suspicions of negligence resulting in death and serious bodily harm, said a military spokeswoman.

The company commander in charge of the exercise was among the injured and is due to undergo an operation. He will be questioned after his doctors give their approval.

Reaction

The Swiss army chief reacted to the accident by placing limits on future training exercises.

Exercises that were not directly linked to the army’s core training mission had been banned, Nef said on Sunday.

The accident, which comes less than a year after six recruits died in an avalanche on the Jungfrau, has re-opened the debate on the precise role of Switzerland’s militia army, which every able-bodied man must join. The defence ministry receives an annual budget of SFr4.5 billion ($4.3 billion).

The Geneva-based newspaper Le Temps said many officers admitted that soldiers without enough to do was a serious problem in the Swiss army and that all sorts of unauthorised exercises were undertaken “to kill time”.

The paper said it had been contacted by several company commanders, who wished to remain anonymous, who believed the fatal exercise on the Kander had been carried out without authorisation.

swissinfo with agencies

Recent army accidents

July 12, 2007: six recruits die in an avalanche on the Jungfrau in the Bernese Oberland, the worst accident in 15 years for the armed forces.

October 12, 2001: an Alouette III helicopter hits a cable near Crans-Montana in canton Valais and crashes, killing all four people on board.

May 25, 2001: an Alouette III helicopter hits a cable near Delémont in canton Jura, killing the pilot and three border guards.

November 12, 1997: a Pilatus Turbo-Porter aircraft crashes during an exercise near Simmental in canton Bern. The pilot and four passengers die.

June 22, 1994: a civilian helicopter collides with a Swiss army Super Puma helicopter and crashes. A British couple and the pilot are killed.

April 27,1993: an army Pilatus Porter is caught up in high winds and flies into a cliff on the Finsteraarhorn in canton Bern. Three people die.

November 2, 1992: six people die when a munitions depot blows up near Susten in canton Bern.

swissinfo.ch