bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

sponsorType

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Agence France-Presse

As many as 14 people are feared missing after a massive landslide swept away a mountainside in the Swiss Alps, ripping apart buildings and forcing the evacuation of a village, police said.
The landslide, which struck on Wednesday, sent mud, rocks and dirt flooding down the Piz Cengalo mountain into the outskirts of the village of Bondo, near the Italian border.
About 100 people were evacuated, some airlifted out by helicopters.
Police in the canton of Graubunden, which initially announced no one was hurt, confirmed Thursday that eight hikers, from Germany, Austria and Switzerland, had been in the region of Val Bondasca where the landslide occurred and were missing.
The Austrian foreign ministry confirmed that a couple from the country was missing, while Swiss daily Blick reported that four of those being searched for were German nationals.
Last child pulled out of rubble after quake hits Italian holiday island

Another group of five to six people had also been reported missing, Andrea Mittner of the Graubunden police told a news conference, adding though that it was unclear if they had actually been in the affected area at the time of the landslide.
“Perhaps they had already left” the region, he said.
No children were believed to be among the missing, he said.
He said a massive search-and-rescue operation was scouring a five square kilometre area, involving about 120 emergency workers, helicopters and rescue dogs.
Police and residents stressed that the mobile phone coverage in the area was spotty at best, voicing hope that might explain why the missing had not been in touch.
Dutch police make second arrest linked to possible terror plot

The landslide set a full four million cubic metres of mud and debris in motion, its relentless moving mass stretching 500 metres across, according to the regional natural hazards office (AWN).
The event was so severe that the vibrations set off seismometers across Switzerland, which measured the equivalent of a magnitude 3.0 earthquake, according to the Swiss Seismological Service.
Images showed an unstoppable mass of thick mud and sludge moving down the mountainside like lava, tearing up trees and demolishing at least one building in its path and partially engulfing others.

“It was terrible,” said Elisa Nunzi, 27, who witnessed the landslide from her home in a neighbouring village.
She said she first noticed something was amiss when a large flock of birds began flying nervously around the church tower, and then a deafening bang that sent rocks pouring down the mountain.
“There were so many. It did not stop,” she said.
“You could not see anything for an hour. But you could still hear stones falling down. It smelled of granite,” Nunzi said.

Police said 12 farm buildings, including barns and stables, had been destroyed, while Graubunden’s main southern highway was closed to traffic. Around 100 people had been evacuated from Bondo and surrounding villages, as well as from Alpine cabins, amid fears of fresh landslides.
Wednesday’s landslide was not the first to hit Piz Cengalo. In 2012, nearly 400 million cubic metres of mud, rocks and gravel – the equivalent of 4,000 standard-sized houses – poured down the mountainside, landing in an uninhabited valley.
Following that incident, an automatic debris alarm system was installed.

That alarm was set off when Wednesday’s landslide barrelled down the mountain at 9:30am, police said, sparking an immediate deployment of emergency services.
The last deadly landslide to hit Switzerland was in November 2014, in the city of Davesco-Soragno, killing two people and injuring four others.
One of the worst such accidents in the wealthy Alpine country in recent years happened in 2000, when 12 people perished and four others were declared missing after floods in the southern canton of Valais.


‘It did not stop’: 14 missing after massive landslide in Swiss Alps engulfs homes

Village of Bondo after the landslide struck on Wednesday. Photo: AFP

A picture taken on August 24, 2017 shows part of a street and bridge covered by stones after a landslide struck during the night of August 23 in the village of Bondo, Switzerland. Eight hikers are missing after a massive landslide swept away an entire mountainside in the Swiss Alps, ripping apart buildings and forcing the evacuation of a village, police said on August 24, 2017. The landslide, which struck on August 23, sent mud, rocks and dirt flooding down the Piz Cengalo mountain into the outskirts of the village of Bondo, near the Italian border. / AFP PHOTO / MIGUEL MEDINA

epa06160089 Swiss President Doris Leuthard (C-R) climbs from a helicopter as she arrives to inspect the site after a landslide in Bondo, Graubuenden in southern Switzerland, 24 August 2017. The village had been hit by a massive landslide yesterday. The main road between Stampa and Castasegna is disconnected. The village has been evacuated. Eight people have been reported missing. EPA/GIAN EHRENZELLER

epa06159494 A search-and-rescue team member is transported by helicopter, in the village Bondo in Graubuenden in southern Switzerland, 24 August 2017. The village had been hit by a massive landslide yesterday. The main road between Stampa and Castasegna is disconnected. The village has been evacuated. Eight people have been reported missing. EPA/GIAN EHRENZELLER

This aerial video grab made on August 24, 2017 partially shows the Switzerland village of Bondo after a landslide struck the day before, sending mud, rocks and dirt flooding down the Piz Cengalo mountain into the outskirts of the village, near the Italian border. Eight hikers are missing after the massive landslide swept away an entire mountainside in the Swiss Alps, ripping apart buildings and forcing the evacuation of a village, police said. About 100 people were evacuated, some airlifted out by helicopters. / AFP PHOTO / LOCALTEAM / - / Italy OUT - Switzerland OUT / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT " AFP PHOTO / LOCAL TEAM" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS - NO ARCHIVES

Swiss police officers gather on August 24, 2017 where a landslide struck during the night of August 23 in the village of Bondo, Switzerland. Eight hikers are missing after a massive landslide swept away an entire mountainside in the Swiss Alps, ripping apart buildings and forcing the evacuation of a village, police said on August 24, 2017. The landslide, which struck on August 23, sent mud, rocks and dirt flooding down the Piz Cengalo mountain into the outskirts of the village of Bondo, near the Italian border. / AFP PHOTO / MIGUEL MEDINA

News

World

Europe

Village near Italian border is evacuated, with party of eight hikers among those missing


‘It did not stop’: 14 missing after massive landslide in Swiss Alps engulfs homes

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Village near Italian border is evacuated, with party of eight hikers among those missing

Village near Italian border is evacuated, with party of eight hikers among those missing