She listened to her father and survived

Time will stand still again in Sierre on Sunday. At 2:45 p.m. there will be an official memorial service. At the memorial erected in 2015 for the victims of the bus accident, in a local recreation area above the motorway tunnel. On March 13, 2012, 28 people died here, including 22 children. The Belgian school classes were returning from a ski camp in Val d’Anniviers.

In addition to the relatives, Federal President Ignazio Cassis, Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, former Deputy Chairman of the Dutch Council of State Piet Hein Donner, representatives of the canton and municipal authorities and delegations from the Valais rescue service are also expected on Sunday.

It is possible that it will be the last act of collective grief management for the time being. Time doesn’t heal wounds. But it helps to find a way of dealing with this fateful night, through which all those affected will remain connected.

The numerous media reports that are now appearing around the tenth anniversary of the accident show how difficult this process is. For example, Christian Varone, the otherwise rather reserved Valais police commander, speaks openly about the difficult handling of the unexplained cause of the accident. “Not being able to give the families all the answers is very painful,” Varone said in an interview with the French-speaking Swiss magazine “L’Illustré” this week.

Years after the accident, rumors circulated and there were attempts to explain how the accident happened and the role of the chauffeur. Corresponding investigations were discontinued in 2015. A complaint from parents was then rejected by the federal court. It was all very frustrating, Varone admits today. “But we have no choice but to accept it.”

The survivors are also trying to find their way. One of them is Sarah Pues, now in her early 20s. In a portrait in the newspaper “Le Matin Dimanche”, she recently said that it was difficult for her to meet the parents of the deceased and look them in the eye. “I would feel guilty.” She says that the relatives of the dead would never fully understand what it was like to have survived the drama – and vice versa. “I think it’s just as painful for them as it is for us.”

Sarah Pues was indescribably lucky in the accident. Only her shoulder, wrist and ankle were broken. She had insisted on sitting in the seat just inside the center entrance and facing the aisle. Her father told her at the time that this was the safest place in a coach, she recalls. When she regained consciousness after the impact, she began to pray “that I will see my parents again”. And she vowed to live her dreams. Sarah Pues wants to be a pop singer or songwriter.