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More than 40 injured after tourist coach collision

More than 40 people were injured when a Welsh coach was involved in a collision with four lorries in Switzerland.


The coach was from the Edwards coach operators based near Pontypridd in Rhondda Cynon Taff.


The coach, with 39 passengers on board, had been returning from a tour of Lake Como in Italy.


Swiss police said three of those seriously hurt were onboard when the incident happened at about 11.15am on Friday, 25 miles from Zurich.


The crash happened while the coach was at a construction works site on the A2 motorway at Eich when it was struck by a truck, according to Swiss police.


That led to another lorry crashing into the back of the coach – pushing it into another vehicle.


Police said four lorries in total were involved in the incident: two from Switzerland, one from Poland and one from Slovakia.


Jason Edwards, one of the directors of the company, said the majority of those injured had been released from hospital, and he understood those with more serious injuries were not in life threatening conditions.


He told the BBC: “The majority of those on the coach have been discharged from hospital, and they are being put up at a five-star hotel in Lucerne centre.


“We’re still waiting for confirmation on the condition of those still in hospital.”


Edwards said his father, another director of the coach operator, was in Lucerne, which is the nearest city to the incident, and that they were being assisted by British consular staff.


The coach company carries some 80,000 people a year on its holiday tour operations, as well as providing school transport to 6,500 pupils in south Wales and hires coaches to clients that include both Wales football and rugby teams, and Cardiff City football club.


The firm runs 250 vehicles from a series of depots across south Wales and a number of travel shops in Cardiff, Swansea, and Merthyr Tydfil.

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