Two dead in Zurich Flixbus driver faces trial after fatal accident

A 64-year-old Italian man is to stand trial for involuntary manslaughter at the Zurich High Court this Friday. He is accused of being responsible for the deaths of two people in a bus accident on the Sihlhochstrasse in December 2018.

Keystone-SDA

14.11.2025, 05:55

14.11.2025, 06:11

SDA

The accused was at the wheel of the coach whose journey to Zurich ended in a serious accident at around 4 a.m. on December 16, 2018. The driver crashed the coach into the concrete wall at the end of the A3 freeway stub. Two people died in the accident and over 40 were injured, three of them seriously.

In May 2024, the Zurich District Court sentenced the man to a conditional prison sentence of 24 months for involuntary manslaughter, as requested by the public prosecutor. The Italian appealed against this.

According to the district court's ruling, the driver was traveling far too fast in poor road and visibility conditions and only began to brake shortly before the collision.

Passenger drowned in the Sihl

A second driver, who was riding in the passenger seat, was trapped in the accident. He later died in hospital as a result of his injuries. A 37-year-old woman, who was also a passenger on the bus, fell into the Sihl and drowned.

The driver's defense lawyer stated at the district court hearing that the driver could not be held responsible for the deaths of the two people and the injuries to dozens of passengers. For example, it was unclear how the drowned woman got into the Sihl. She could also have fallen "after getting off the Sihl high bridge".

The defense lawyer rather blamed the authorities. The spot on the A3 was extremely dangerous. Concrete elements were only placed in front of the end of the highway after the accident. This was despite the fact that a lorry had already fallen into the Sihl a few years earlier.