The Swiss voice in the world since 1935
Top stories
Stay in touch with Switzerland

Two dead after glider crash in southern Switzerland

The site of the fatal glider crash in canton Valais.
The site of the fatal glider crash in canton Valais. Keystone-SDA

Two people died after their glider crashed in canton Valais on Friday afternoon. The police said the victims were Swiss nationals, aged 72 and 46, who had apparently taken off from canton Aargau in northern Switzerland.

+ Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox

According to the Valais cantonal police on Saturday, the accident occurred below the Chistehorn peak near Niedergesteln in canton Valais.

An individual who saw the crash alerted the emergency service Rega shortly before 4pm. The local emergency services flew to the crash site in an Air Zermatt helicopter but discovered that the two occupants had died.

According to the police, the glider took off from an airfield in canton Aargau at around 12.30pm on Friday.

The Swiss Transportation Safety Investigation Board (Sust) has launched an investigation. The cause of the accident was initially unclear.

Translated from German by DeepL/sb

This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles.

If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, if you want to learn more about how we use technology, click here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to english@swissinfo.ch.

Popular Stories

Most Discussed

News

Valais National Councillor Bregy is the new President of Mitte Schweiz

More

Philipp Matthias Bregy named new president of Centre Party

This content was published on Valais National Councillor Philipp Matthias Bregy is the new President of the Centre Party. The delegates elected him as the successor to Gerhard Pfister on Saturday in Bern without discussion.

Read more: Philipp Matthias Bregy named new president of Centre Party
A worldwide call for active neutrality launched from Geneva

More

Global call for active neutrality launched from Geneva

This content was published on A number of players have launched a worldwide appeal for active neutrality in Geneva at a time when the major powers are taking a tougher line. The city is competing with Vienna to attract an international congress on this issue in 2026.

Read more: Global call for active neutrality launched from Geneva
Macron invites President Keller-Sutter

More

Macron invites Swiss president to Paris

This content was published on Swiss Finance Minister Karin Keller-Sutter, who holds the rotating Swiss presidency this year, has been invited to Paris by French President Emmanuel Macron.

Read more: Macron invites Swiss president to Paris

In compliance with the JTI standards

More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative

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.

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR