SWITZERLAND: SWISS COURT CONVICTS 6 PEOPLE OF MANSLAUGHTER FOR THEIR ROLE IN ORGANISING A DISASTROUS WILDWATER ADVENTURE IN WHICH 21 PEOPLE DIED
Record ID:
648762
SWITZERLAND: SWISS COURT CONVICTS 6 PEOPLE OF MANSLAUGHTER FOR THEIR ROLE IN ORGANISING A DISASTROUS WILDWATER ADVENTURE IN WHICH 21 PEOPLE DIED
- Title: SWITZERLAND: SWISS COURT CONVICTS 6 PEOPLE OF MANSLAUGHTER FOR THEIR ROLE IN ORGANISING A DISASTROUS WILDWATER ADVENTURE IN WHICH 21 PEOPLE DIED
- Date: 11th December 2001
- Summary: (U6) INTERLAKEN, SWITZERLAND (DECEMBER 11, 2001) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. GV: MOUNTAINS AROUND INTERLAKEN SAXET BROOK, WHERE THE TEAM STARTED THE CANYONING TRIP 0.05 2. ZOOM INTO SAXET BROOK 0.18 3. PAN FROM SAXET BROOK TO MEMORIAL PLACE/ WS/CU STONES IN MEMORY OF VICTIMS STONE READING CANYONING TRAGEDY SAXETBACH 27 JULY 1999 (3 SHOTS) 0.39 4. PHOTO OF WARWICK TOUT, WHO DIED IN THE ACCIDENT 0.44 5. PHOTO OF BILLY PEEL, WHO DIED IN THE ACCIDENT 0.55 6. PHOTO OF TOBY DRAKE, WHO DIED IN THE ACCIDENT 1.01 7. VARIOUS PHOTOS OF ALISSA BROOKER FROM PERTH AUSTRALIA, WHOSE BODY STILL MISSING (2 SHOTS) 1.20 8. VARIOUS OF EXTERIOR OF ADVENTURE WORLD (2 SHOTS) 1.32 9. LV: PLACE WHERE THE RIVER ENTERS THE BRIENZERSEE LAKE, WHERE SEVERAL BODIES WERE FOUND 1.36 10. PAN: BRIENZERSEE LAKE 1.48 11. VARIOUS OF ALL MEMBERS OF ADVENTURE WORLD ON TRIAL ARRIVING AT THE TRIBUNAL (3 SHOTS) 2.02 12. VARIOUS OF FAMILIES AND RELATIVES OF VICTIMS ARRIVING AT THE TRIBUNAL (5 SHOTS) 2.31 13. VARIOUS OF FAMILIES INSIDE COURTROOM AS THE TRIAL ENDS 2.35 14. SV'S: TOUT FAMILY HUGGING EACH OTHER 2.40 (NIGHTSHOTS) 15. SV: (SOUNDBITE) (English) BRONWYN SMITH, MOTHER OF BRIANA, 19, WHO DIED IN THE ACCIDENT, SAYING: "We are very happy. The ones we found guilty were found guilty. I think the two young guides were sort of been near above their heads." / PAUL SMITH, FATHER OF BRIANA, ADDING: "They didn't have proper trial. the judge made his decision. He decided that was it." / BRONWYN SMITH SAYING "Well, they are young guides, they didn't really know what they were doing, they were just there to earn their bread-and-butter money" / PAUL SAYING "It is certainly a closure for us. This whole week has been a closure. We are very happy we came, we werent very sure but now we are very happy we came. We had some sense of what really happened." 3.50 16. SV: (SOUNDBITE) (English) SUE TOUT, MOTHER OF WARWICK , WHO DIED IN THE ACCIDENT, SAYING: "I am very pleased. It's justice we wanted to be. We will never get our kids back." / BRUCE TOUT, FATHER OF WARWICK, ADDING: "I think the judge did a very good job. I think the truth did come out. I am glad the truth came out. Yes. I was very concerned last night but the judge stuck to the facts and gave a very good decision." 4.18 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 26th December 2001 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: INTERLAKEN, SWITZERLAND
- Country: Switzerland
- Reuters ID: LVABDHZAXADPITWGLKY24Z220GY0
- Story Text: A Swiss court has convicted six people of
manslaughter for their role in organising a disastrous
wildwater adventure in which 18 thrill-seekers and three
guides died.
Three board members and three senior guides were
convicted while two junior guides were cleared on Tuesday
(December 11).
The three board members got five months suspended sentences,
and fines of 7,500 Swiss francs each. The other three got
lesser suspended sentences, and smaller fines.
The prosecution had said all five guides, as well as the
three board members at extreme sports organiser Adventure
World were culpably negligent for pressing ahead with a
canyoning trip down a narrow gorge near the central Swiss
Alpine resort of Interlaken even as a thunderstorm broke
over the valley.
All of them denied any wrongdoing, contending the safety
measures they used met industry standards but could not
prevent an unforeseeable freak of nature from killing
their customers and colleagues.
Relatives of the deceased welcomed the verdicts.
The five Adventure World guides were in charge of the trip
along the Saxet Brook when a raging wall of water and debris
swept into a group of tourists making their way down the gorge
in July 1999.
Three managers of the now-bankrupt firm were charged with
failing to supervise their staff properly or to guarantee
safe conditions. The prosecution had sought suspended jail
sentences of up to eight months and fines of up to
10,000 Swiss francs.
All had faced fines and up to a year in jail.
The Saxet Brook victims were taking part in the extreme
sport of canyoning.
Adherents don padded wetsuits, life jackets and helmets to
swim and slide down fast-flowing rivers.
It was a trip hundreds of other people made without a
major mishap until the day more than two years ago when 45
guests and eight guides set out for an adventure that turned
horribly wrong.
Two-thirds of the victims were Australian. Others came from
Britain, New Zealand, South Africa and Switzerland. All were
between 19 and 32 years old. The body of one Australian woman
who died along with her husband has never been found.
Prosecutors said the guides had inadequate knowledge of
meteorology and set off despite a thunderstorm that had been
forecast and that could be seen from the trips starting point.
A rival firms trip that day was cancelled.
The prosecution accused them of failing to break off the
trip even as the water began rising and changing colour.
Adventure World managers were accused of not setting up
proper safety rules to ensure trips would not proceed under
dangerous conditions.
Adventure World went out of business after a separate incident
last year in which a young American plunged to his death during
a bungee-jumping outing the company organised.
Switzerland has since adopted a code of conduct for commercial
operators of extreme sports and set up courses to educate guides.
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