The Saxetbach is a mountain river south of

Interlaken Interlaken (; lit.: ''between lakes'') is a Swiss town and municipality in the Interlaken-Oberhasli administrative district in the canton of Bern. It is an important and well-known tourist destination in the Bernese Oberland region of the Swiss ...

in the

Canton of Bern The canton of Bern, or Berne (; ; ; ), is one of the Canton of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. Its capital city, Bern, is also the ''de facto'' capital of Switzerland. The bear is the heraldic symbol of the c ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. It is a left tributary of the river

Lütschine The Lütschine () is a Rivers of Switzerland, river in the Bernese Oberland region of Switzerland. The Lütschine proper runs from Zweilütschinen, where its two tribututaries join, to Lake Brienz at Bönigen. The Schwarze Lütschine, or Black Lüt ...

. It flows through the village

Saxeten Saxeten is a municipality in the Interlaken-Oberhasli administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. In 1999, Saxeten became internationally known following an incident where 21 tourists and guides were killed in a flash flood ...

and joins the Lütschine in

Wilderswil Wilderswil is a village and a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Interlaken-Oberhasli (administrative district), Interlaken-Oberhasli administrative district in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Bern (canton), Bern in Switzerla ...

. It forms a narrow

ravine A ravine is a landform that is narrower than a canyon and is often the product of streambank erosion. Ravines are typically classified as larger in scale than gullies, although smaller than valleys. Ravines may also be called a cleuch, dell, ...

, the ''Saxetbach Gorge''.

1999 accident

On 27 July 1999, there was an accident in the Saxetenbach Gorge, just above the village of Saxeten, in which 21 young people from

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New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

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South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

, and Switzerland died. 48 people from 2 coach tour parties had opted to do a side activity of canyoning where you float, swim and climb through an area, such as a gorge. It was organized by Adventure World, a now defunct company who were located in Wilderswil, not far from Saxeten. Shortly into the experience, flash floods swept through the gorge, resulting in the deaths of 21 people in the group. 18 were tourists and 3 were canyon guides. The authorities were alerted to the incident when a local jogger spotted bodies in Lake Brienz. Case Study
The survivors were rescued and then questioned by Swiss police before being released and returned to their hotel at 1am the next morning. Identifying the dead bodies was a challenge as many were badly traumatized, and bereft of personal belongings as jewellery, watches and identifiers were removed before undertaking the experience. A number of survivors opted to identify the dead at the mortuary, but many had to be identified through DNA and dental analysis. Around 150 officers were involved in the operation. It was Switzerland's worst whitewater accident since 1993 when 17 people died in an accident in the Graubünden region. Following the incident, there was significant criticism of the organiser Adventure World, noting their ignorance toward the storm warnings issued. Swiss authorities were quick to blame profit making and general negligence as the cause of the accident. The Swiss government also suspended all canyoning expeditions until a full investigation had taken place. A permanent memorial was opened between

and Saxeten in July 2000. In 2000, Adventure World ceased trading following an incident where an American tourist was killed in a

bungee jumping Bungee jumping (), also spelled bungy jumping, is an activity that involves a person jumping from a great height while connected to a large elastic cord. The launching pad is usually erected on a tall structure such as a building or crane, a ...

accident. In December 2001, eight staff at Adventure World, including managers Felix Oehler and Bernhard Gafner were tried for

manslaughter Manslaughter is a common law legal term for homicide considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is sometimes said to have first been made by the ancient Athenian lawmaker Draco in the 7th ce ...

in connection to the deaths. Of the 8 staff trialled, six were found guilty of manslaughter through culpable negligence and given suspended sentences of between two and five months and fined between 4,000 and 7,500 CHF. Two tour guides were found not guilty, the judge declaring it was not their responsibility to cancel the excursion.

Photos

File:Saxet.jpg, Saxetenbach disaster memorial Saxet 1999.jpg, Messages left by family and friends at the Saxetenbach disaster memorial Saxetenbrücke über den Saxetbach, Wilderswil BE 20220723-jag9889.jpg, The Saxetenbridge across the Saxetbach connecting the walkway to Wilderswil Mündung des Saxetbachs in die Lütschine, Wilderswil BE 20240624-jag9889.jpg, The Saxetbach joining the Lütschine

References

{{Reflist

External links

A storm in the distance
an

Outside Magazine ''Outside'' is a magazine focused on the outdoors. The first issue of the ''Outside'' magazine was published in September 1977. It is published by Outside Inc., a company that also owns various other ventures. History ''Outside'' founders were J ...

article about the canyoning accident. Canyons and gorges of Switzerland Landforms of the canton of Bern