A horrific accident which resulted in the deaths of six people, members of only two families, five of whom were women, happened on Sunday, 15 June 1969, in the Naters-Blatten hillclimb held in Canton of Valais, Switzerland. It was the first racing event there organized by the local racing club.
The first heat was nearly over when the last driver at the start, Gwer Reichen, a gynecologist and an experienced amateur racer of La Chaux-de-Fonds, Canton of Neuchâtel, Switzerland, lost control of his 7-litre Shelby Cobra - Ford #162, one and a half kilometer after the starting line of the hillclimb. After hitting an asphalt depression on the right side of the road at an estimate speed of 180 km/h (112 mi/h), the car swerved to the left, then bounced on the other side going off the road, ending on a field three meters below the road. The Shelby Cobra plunged into a group of spectators, killing five of them and putting 17 in hospital.
The five victims who were killed on the spot were: a 48-year-old lady, Lina Eggel-Perren, her daughter Marianne Perren, 12, and her adoptive son, Roland Perren, 6; two young sisters, Catherine Salzmann, 10, and Monique Salzmann, 9, the daughters of the school inspector of Naters. Among the other persons who received seriuos injuries, were Monique's and Catherine's father and aunt, Marcel Salzmann, 39, and Oliva Eyer Salzmann, 50, and two other children of Lina Eggel-Perren, Armin Perren and Béatrice Perren.
Although in the days after the accident it was reported that the injuried spectators were in satisfactory condition, Oliva Eyer-Salzmann of Naters succumbed to her injuries on 06 July 1969 in a hospital in Brig. One newspaper article mentioned that the total number of deaths was seven, but this is believed to be a mistake.
The spectators were standing in front of signs indicating that part of the track was forbidden to the public, this fact didn't stopped a great outcry in the Country where motor racing has been forbidden since 1955 - after the tragedy of Le Mans during which an accident with the Mercedes-Benz of French driver Pierre Levegh killed more than 80 spectators - except for events in which drivers compete only via the clock, such as rallies and hillclimbs.
After the accident Gwer Reichen, who escaped injury, was arrested. He was processed by the Tribunal d'Arrondissement du Haut Valais, and acquitted only in 1972. In the same trial were sentenced to prison the race committee President (Mr. Gérard P.), five months, the race director (René Sch.), three months, and an official of the local police (Maurice P.), forty days. In the appeal process Maurice P. was also acquitted, while the punishements for Gérard P. and René Sch. were reduced respectively to three and one months.
R.I.P
