One dead, twelve injured in horse-drawn carriage accident in Swiss Alps
A horse-drawn carriage carrying tourists through the Val Roseg near Pontresina, Switzerland, struck a tree on August 15, killing one person and injuring twelve, two seriously, during a group excursion of approximately 60 people.
Accident in Val Roseg
On Saturday afternoon, around 3 PM on August 15, 2026, a horse-drawn carriage accident in the Val Roseg near Pontresina, in the Upper Engadine valley of Graubünden, Switzerland, left one person dead and twelve others injured, two of them seriously. The accident occurred during an excursion by a group of approximately 60 tourists traveling through the valley. The group was split across two carriage teams. According to the Graubünden cantonal police, each team consisted of a horse-drawn carriage followed by two passenger trailers, with about ten people per vehicle. The Blick newspaper described each team as comprising three carriages with ten people each. One of the two teams left the road on a slightly downhill section and collided heavily with a tree.
The impact killed one person and left twelve injured, two of them seriously. The injured were distributed to various hospitals across the canton of Graubünden for treatment. The remaining members of the tour group, who were not injured, were transported to Pontresina after the accident. The exact circumstances of how the carriage left the road remain unclear, and the precise sequence of events has not yet been established by investigators on site.
Rescue operation
The accident triggered a large-scale rescue response in the valley. Two helicopters, multiple ambulances, and a Care-Team were deployed to the scene. The injured were taken to several hospitals across the canton of Graubünden for medical treatment. A Care-Team was also activated to provide psychological support to those affected by the incident, remaining with the survivors at Pontresina after the rest of the tour group was brought there from the accident site. The online edition of the newspaper Blick first reported the accident on Saturday evening, August 15, with the Graubünden cantonal police confirming the details to the publication.
- Carriage accident occurs in Val Roseg near Pontresina; one team leaves the road and hits a tree
- Blick publishes first online report on the accident
- Police spokesperson Jürgen Rüegg confirms one dead and twelve injured to Keystone-ATS
Confirmation and nationalities
Jürgen Rüegg, spokesperson for the Graubünden cantonal police, confirmed the details on Sunday morning, August 16, in response to inquiries from the Swiss news agency Keystone-ATS and the online edition of the newspaper Blick. The identities of the deceased and the injured were not yet known as of Sunday morning. According to the cantonal police, the group included Swiss nationals as well as German citizens among the travelers. Other nationalities were also represented in the group, though specific countries beyond Germany and Switzerland were not named by the police.
Cause under investigation
Rüegg was unable to provide any information on the causes that led to the accident as of Sunday morning. The Graubünden cantonal police announced that further information would be released during the course of Sunday, August 16. The investigation into the circumstances of the accident is ongoing.
Geography of the area
The Val Roseg is a small valley that extends from Pontresina southward toward Piz Glüschaint and Piz Roseg, two peaks located on the Swiss-Italian border. The valley is bounded to the west by Piz Corvatsch and to the east by Piz Bernina. The area is a destination for excursions in the Upper Engadine region of the Swiss Alps.
