The thoughts of the team at E2NZ are with the families and friends of the adults and children who lost their lives in the bus crash in Switzerland.

“The bus crashed shortly after 21:00 (20:00 GMT) on Tuesday near Sierre, in the Swiss canton of Valais, close to the border with Italy.

The Belgian foreign ministry said most of the children were aged around 12, and the bus was one of three hired by a Christian group. The other two reached Belgium safely.

The children had spent a week skiing in Val d’Anniviers in the Swiss Alps.

Those on board the bus that crashed were from the Stekske primary school in Lommel, near the Dutch border, and from St Lambertus in Heverlee, near Leuven, with the numbers roughly even.

Although most of the victims are Belgian, Swiss officials say the dead include seven Dutch children. Among those injured are three Dutch, one Pole and one German.

The 24 injured have been taken to hospitals in Sion, Bern and Lausanne. Officials say three were in a coma…” source

The crash is thought to be one of Europe’s worst road accidents.

So many young and promising lives cut short on what was supposed to be a happy occasion, a holiday and a chance to see something of the world. For the many nationalities involved, the world is sharing your loss and grieving with you, your loss is ours also.

Our thoughts are also with the families and friends of the people lost in the Bangladesh ferry sinking.  112 lives were lost, many of them children.

“The ferry collided with a cargo boat and sank early Tuesday, sending scores of people into the Meghna River, just south of Dhaka. Local police chief Mohammad Shahabuddin Khan said about 35 survivors were plucked from the water, while local media reported that another 40 managed to swim to shore.

Hundreds of anxious people, many of them weeping, gathered near the scene of the accident to look for their loved ones. Some were angry, saying they blamed local authorities for the slow pace of the rescue operation…” source

The ferry sinking is sure to resonate with those who lost loved ones in the Princess Ashika disaster in Tonga, August 2009.

Another sad day for us all.