Tram Mishaps Continue; Basel Loses Seat In National Council; Highrise Fire In Central Basel

News For 3 October 2023

Yesterday, another tram and a commercial truck collided in the vicinity of the St. Jakob's halle.  Adding insult to injury, the tram involved was none other than the "Federer Express'', a one-of-a-kind tram bearing the likeness of the local tennis hero.  It seems both the truck and the tram were determined to make a right turn at the same time and place causing the tram to rear-end the vehicle.  Fortunately, there were no injuries and only slight delays were reported while the damaged vehicles were moved out of the way.

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On October 22 elections for the National Council and the Council of States will take place in Switzerland.  As part of the election process the 200 seats in the National Council will be reapportioned based on the populations of the cantons.  Unfortunately for Basel, it will lose one of the five seats it has had on the council to Zürich because the latest demographic surveys reflect faster growth in Zürich. The surveys also revealed that over the past four years, Basel has only grown at 1.9% versus the national average of 3%.   

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A fire broke out at an office complex next to the Basel SBB train station on Friday afternoon.  The fire was large enough to warrant the presence of all of Basel's Emergency Response departments, including the fire brigade, ambulances and police.  According to the public prosecutor's office, the fire broke out just after 3:00 PM prior to the start of Basel's rush hour.  Fifty people were evacuated, one person was treated on-site for injuries and three people were examined for smoke inhalation.  The cause of the fire is still undetermined and police are investigating.