The Swiss army chief has reacted to a fatal boating accident in the Bernese Oberland by placing limits on future training exercises.

Exercises that are not directly linked to the army's core training mission have been banned, Roland Nef said on Sunday.

There needs to be absolutely minimal risk involved in exercises, he added.

Training programmes will now be examined specifically from the point of view of security and the risk factor of exercises will have to be evaluated by commanders in charge.

Four soldiers have been confirmed dead and another is missing after what was apparently a team-building exercise in the River Kander near Wimmis on Thursday.

Two rubber boats that capsized while carrying ten men from an airfield security unit have been recovered, but it remains unclear what went wrong.

The army has so far been unable to say whether the boats were designed for the type of exercise that was undertaken, or if soldiers had already travelled down the Kander this way before.

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