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Trains collide in popular tourist resort

The Swiss air rescue service, Rega, has rushed four helicopters to the scene near Interlaken. Rega

At least 60 people have been injured after two trains packed with tourists collided head-on near the Swiss Alpine resort of Interlaken.

Twenty-seven victims have been taken to hospital, including a passenger with serious head injuries.

The two trains were carrying 250 passengers when the accident happened at 9.50am on Thursday morning.

Police said a local train was making a scheduled journey between Interlaken and Lauterbrunnen on a single-track stretch of rail, when it was hit by the other train, which had been laid on to cope with extra tourists in the peak season.

The scheduled train stopped after frantic radio warnings but the other train did not and the trains collided.

Police said it was not immediately clear why the two trains ended up travelling in opposite directions on the same track at the same time.

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Several carriages were derailed and at least 13 passengers were injured, at least one of them severely. Police did not release any details of those hurt.

The Swiss air rescue service, Rega, has rushed four helicopters to the scene and one has been used to transport the injured to hospital in the Swiss capital, Bern.

The region around Interlaken is traditionally very popular with Japanese and American tourists, who use the local rail network to visit the Alps and Europe’s highest railway station at Jungfraujoch.

swissinfo with agencies

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