Swiss Charge Eight Over Canyoning Deaths

I N T E R L A K E N, Switzerland, Nov. 1, 2000 -- Police have charged eight membersof an adventure-tour company with manslaughter due to negligence inthe deaths of 21 young people who drowned in raging Alpine waterslast year.

The three directors of the local company that organized thetrip, Adventure World, have been charged, along with three guidesand two officials at the company’s base. Charges were droppedagainst three other guides.

Police said today the eight had led the trip “in spiteof the fact that a thunderstorm was breaking.”

Sudden Violent Storm

Eighteen tourists and three guides — all between ages 18 and 31— on the canyoning trip in central Switzerland died after beingswept away July 27, 1999, by flash flooding following a suddenstorm. Canyoning involves sliding, jumping and rappelling downravines and into rivers without rafts.

Fourteen of the victims came from Australia and the rest fromNew Zealand, South Africa, Britain and Switzerland. The body of onevictim — 24-year-old Australian Alisa Redmond — has not beenrecovered.

The maximum sentence for manslaughter through negligence is notfixed under Swiss law, which states only that it is punished “witha prison sentence or with a fine.” It was not immediately clearwhen the case would come to court.

Swiss authorities drew up new guidelines to improve safety forcanyoning in the wake of the accident.

Other Incidents Investigated

Adventure World closed down in May following the death of anAmerican tourist in a bungee jumping accident. An investigationinto that accident is still under way.

“I have completely stopped my business now, but as far as thecourt and justice are concerned, I am not too pessimistic,” saidPeter Balmer, one of the Adventure World directors charged in thecase.

Other organizers were cleared to resume canyoning trips in theSaxet brook, where the accident took place.