Five injured in Weissenbach crash as firefighters free driver from car

Five people were injured in a four-car crash on the main road in Weissenbach in the Bernese Oberland shortly after 4.30pm on Monday, 19 October. A car crossed into the opposite lane and collided with an oncoming vehicle, triggering further collisions involving two more cars. Firefighters had to free one driver from his vehicle. The road was completely closed for almost two hours while emergency services worked at the scene.

Two of those involved sustained minor injuries. The severity of the other three people’s injuries has not been specified. Four ambulance crews and a helicopter from Rega, Switzerland’s air rescue service, took the injured to hospital. Bern cantonal police have opened an investigation, with the central question being why the first car crossed into oncoming traffic.

First collision in the opposite lane

The initial findings indicate that the car was travelling from Weissenbach towards Zweisimmen. For reasons that remain unclear, it left its lane on the main road and collided side-on with an approaching vehicle. That impact began a sequence of collisions which ultimately involved four cars.

Following the first impact, each of the two cars collided with another vehicle. The sequence also included an offset head-on collision. The account available so far therefore describes several impacts, rather than a single collision between two cars. Investigators are working to establish the precise order of events and the movements of the vehicles involved.

It is not yet possible to draw a reliable conclusion about the cause. The fact that a car crossed into the opposite lane identifies the starting point of the crash, but does not explain why it happened. Nor does that fact alone settle responsibility. The investigation must establish what happened before the first impact, as well as how the subsequent collisions unfolded.

Firefighters and air rescue at the scene

One of the drivers needed firefighters’ help to get out of his car. Details of his injuries have not been specified. The fact that he had to be freed from the vehicle does not, on its own, establish the severity of his medical condition.

The operation to help the five injured people required several emergency resources. Alongside the four ambulance crews, a Rega helicopter was dispatched. All five were taken to hospital. It has not been specified which patients travelled by ambulance and which by helicopter, or which hospitals received them. No further details of their condition after admission are available.

Firefighters from Boltigen and Zweisimmen attended, together with Bern cantonal police and a vehicle recovery service. The response thus brought together local emergency crews and air rescue personnel. Their work included freeing the driver, treating and transporting the injured, and dealing with the vehicles and the scene on the closed road.

Almost two hours of disruption

The main road was closed completely while work at the crash site took place. The closure lasted almost two hours and caused substantial tailbacks. Beyond the immediate consequences for the five injured people, the collision therefore also had a significant effect on traffic around the scene.

The crash happened late on Monday afternoon. Anyone travelling along the affected stretch during the closure faced delays, with the road impassable in both directions while emergency crews carried out their work. The length of the queues and the number of road users affected have not been specified.

At a crash involving several vehicles, rescue work, police examination of the scene and clearance operations all require access to the same limited stretch of road. A full closure provides room for that work and protects emergency personnel from passing traffic. In Weissenbach, the carriageway had to remain clear for crews dealing with a scene involving four cars.

For people using this part of the Bernese Oberland’s road network, the immediate consequence was the interruption to travel between Weissenbach and Zweisimmen. The established details show a complete closure and considerable congestion, but do not provide a more precise measure of the disruption beyond the almost two-hour shutdown.

Cause remains under investigation

Bern cantonal police are now seeking to establish what caused the car to cross into the opposite lane. The facts known so far are insufficient to identify a specific trigger. They also do not allow firm conclusions about whether, or how, the other drivers were able to react to the first collision.

Investigations of this kind distinguish between the separate phases of a crash: the journey before the initial impact, the collision itself and the movements of the vehicles afterwards. That distinction is particularly important when several cars collide in succession. What the reconstruction will establish in this case remains to be seen.

For the five injured people, the medical consequences are the immediate concern. For investigators, the key unanswered question remains why the car travelling towards Zweisimmen entered the path of oncoming traffic. Further enquiries will be needed to explain how that journey ended in a four-vehicle crash.