Train Caught in Avalanche in Swiss Alps

A stunning yet alarming moment was witnessed by a tourist when an avalanche barreled down a mountainside, crashing into a train traveling through the Swiss Alps.

The event occurred on February 17th, close to the well-known ski resort city of Zermatt in southern Switzerland’s Valais region.

Kirsten Osborne, an Australian residing in the UK, was aboard the train with fellow passengers when the avalanche struck. She managed to film the massive wall of snow cascading toward the train.

A child in her video could be heard repeatedly saying, “Hmm,” as the wall of snow grew increasingly closer. Within moments, the train was enveloped in a thick cloud of snow, shaking it and burying the windows.

Osborne shared that passengers found themselves stranded for roughly two hours post-incident. “We were stuck for two hours until they safely evacuated us by bus,” she recounted.

Thankfully, no injuries were reported from the alarming scene. The railway company, Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn, later confirmed that all passengers were successfully evacuated with the assistance of emergency services.

“Around 11 a.m. Tuesday morning, another avalanche occurred between Tesh and Landa,” the company stated. They assured that no one was hurt and that passengers had been evacuated in cooperation with emergency teams.

Due to the situation, train operations on the St. Niklaus-Täsch line have been temporarily suspended as a precaution, with assessments ongoing regarding the route’s safety.

This avalanche incident unfolded in hazardous winter conditions, with heavy snowfall impacting the tourist season in the area. Just a day before, another train accident involving a derailment near Goppenstein injured five people; local reports suggest an avalanche may have been a factor, though investigations are still in progress.

It’s been noted that substantial areas in the Western Alps are at elevated risk for avalanches this season.