A 23-year-old Swiss man who wants to become Mr. Switzerland is being hailed as a hero for preventing a bus carrying 11 football supporters from crashing when its driver died behind the wheel.

"/> A 23-year-old Swiss man who wants to become Mr. Switzerland is being hailed as a hero for preventing a bus carrying 11 football supporters from crashing when its driver died behind the wheel.

" />
Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK

BUS

‘Mr. Switzerland’ hopeful averts bus disaster

A 23-year-old Swiss man who wants to become Mr. Switzerland is being hailed as a hero for preventing a bus carrying 11 football supporters from crashing when its driver died behind the wheel.

Published: 27 February 2012 11:52 CET

The double-decker bus was travelling on Saturday from the canton of Aargau to Milan, with passengers heading to the Italian city to watch Juventus take on league leaders AC Milan.

But the 53-year-old driver suddenly lost consciousness and collapsed in his seat as the vehicle passed through the community of Wohlen, Aargau cantonal police said.

A quick-thinking passenger, identified as Salvatore Novello, grabbed the wheel and averted a potential disaster by bringing the vehicle under control.

“Suddenly the driver coughed twice, then his head slumped to one side and he was unconscious,” Novello told Blick, the German-language newspaper.

Novello, who was sitting in the front row of seats, reacted quickly.

“The bus drifted off the road on the right side, banged on the curb and was almost on the tracks of the regional train,”  he recalled.

He managed to steer the bus back onto the road and bring the vehicle to a halt.

“When I realized what happened, I was shaking all over.”

The fans tried to resuscitate the bus driver without success.

Paramedics arriving on the scene were unable to save the driver, who died on the spot.

Aargau police did not reveal the exact cause of death of the man, who had four children.

One of the passengers, Peter Vallone, praised Novello for his heroic actions.

“It’s great what he has done,” Vallone told Blick. “He saved the others’ lives and prevented a catastrophe.”

The newspaper revealed that the trim Novello, a mechanic from Niederönz, Bern, recently did a photo shoot in a bid to enter the Mr. Switzerland pageant. 

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

NORWAY

UPDATE: Norway bans big events as coronavirus hits ‘new phase’

Norwegian health authorities have called for all who can to work from home, and for all events involving more than 500 people to be cancelled, as the coronavirus infection in the country enters "a new phase".

Published: 11 March 2020 11:03 CET
Updated: 11 March 2020 16:03 CET
UPDATE: Norway bans big events as coronavirus hits 'new phase'
Workers in Norway are encouraged not to use the bus or tram: Photo: Bonanza Grim Evensen/Ruter
The Norwegian Directorate of Health announced the new measures at a press conference on Tuesday evening, before confirming the limit on large gatherings and the call for homeworking in two press releases.  
 
“We are now in a new phase,” Director General Bjørn Guldvog said. “Over the last 24 hours we have received the first cases of infection that cannot be traced.” 
 
“I want to emphasise that the situation is serious. We all have to take responsibility. In this way, we can achieve what we have been talking about all along: To get the lowest possible spread of infection, and thus take care of all the people in Norway in the best possible way.” 
 
Norway's VG tabloid on Wednesday evening reported that there were now 407 cases in the country, collating reports from each municipality. This is considerably above the official 277 figure reported on Tuesday evening by the Norwegian Institute for Public Health, which takes longer to collate the municipal figures.  
 
Health Minister Bent Hoie told Norwegians they should start preparing for a medium pandemic scenario, where 22,000 people are hospitalised. 
 
“Measures taken must be based on good, professional assessments and implemented only when appropriate,” he said. “It may be that we see more radical measures.” 
 
At the press conference Line Vold, department director at FHI, said that at least five of the cases appeared to have no connection to travel abroad or to contact with anyone who had travelled abroad. 
 
“We are assuming that there not yet a lot of ongoing infection taking place that we have not yet discovered, but there will always be dark numbers, because we are unable to test everyone.” 
 
Shortly after the press conference, Dag Jacobsen, head of the intensive care unit at Oslo University Hospital, warned that the measures would not be sufficient to prevent hospitals being overwhelmed in future days as the number of infections increases. 
 
“The recommendation of the Norwegian Medical Association is a ban on all events over 50 participants, not 500,” he said. “The use of buses and trams must be limited. We should impose compulsory home office work for everyone possible. I don't think people realise how serious the situation is that we are facing.” 
 
SHOW COMMENTS