Eight missing after landslide in Swiss Alps, say police

BERN: Eight people, including German, Austrian and Swiss citizens, are missing following a landslide that forced the evacuation of a village in the Swiss Alps, police have said.

“In the region of Val Bondasca, eight people who were there at the time of the landslide have not been found,” the Graubünden cantonal police said in a statement.

The landslide on Wednesday morning sent mud, rocks and dirt flooding into the village of Bondo, near the Italian border. About 100 people were evacuated, some airlifted out with helicopters.

Six of the eight were reported missing by their relatives, police said, adding that the search had intensified overnight, with a Swiss army helicopter taking part.

“The missing persons are nationals from Germany, Austria and Switzerland,” the police said.

Amateur film footage shows large amounts of debris coming loose near the top of Piz Cengalo, a granite peak thattowers3,369metresabove Val Bondasca, and thundering into the valley below.

Images taken after the landslide showed a broad swath of farmland covered in a grey, moving mass, with mud partially engulfing some buildings. Police said 12 farm buildings, including barns and stables, had been destroyed by the flow of debris.

Further loss of life was prevented thanks to an automated warning system that was installed in Bondo after another large landslide in 2012. After registering movement on the Piz Cengalo mountain, the system alerted emergency services and automatically closed off roads in the village.

The approximately 200 villagers who live in Bondo were unable to return to their homes on Thursday midday as authorities could not rule out the possibility of further landslides.