Switzerland landslide: At least eight missing in Val Bondasca

At least eight people are missing following a landslide in an alpine valley in south-eastern Switzerland, police say.

The landslide on Wednesday forced the evacuation of a village in the Val Bondasca region, officials said.

German, Austrian and Swiss citizens are among those missing, Graubünden cantonal police said in a statement.

The slide area is 5km (3 miles) long and “tens of metres” high in places, police said.

Pictures from the scene show rocks and debris scattered across roads.

Some 120 rescuers are searching for the missing on the ground with dogs and using helicopters, equipped with infrared cameras and technology to detect mobile phone signals.

Police say that in addition to the eight people confirmed missing, another group of up to six people could also be missing after a relative said they were in the area but could not be contacted.

The landslide happened at about 09:30 local time (07:30 GMT) on Wednesday when four million cubic metres of mud and rock cascaded down the side of the Piz Cengalo mountain, the authorities said.

The village of Bondo near the Italian border, which narrowly escaped being hit by the landslide, has been completely evacuated, and will remain closed until at least Friday.

Residents fled after alarms sounded in the village. Hikers staying in mountain huts were airlifted to safety.

Several farm buildings were destroyed and pictures show the flow has engulfed homes and destroyed roads.

Geologists have warned that further landslides in the remote area cannot be ruled out.

The alarm system in Bondo was installed after a huge landslide on the slopes of Piz Cengalo in 2012 which crashed into an uninhabited valley.

In 2014 a mudslide in Davesco-Soragno in the southern Canton of Ticino swept into a block of flats, killing two people and injuring four others.

In 2000, 13 people died when a landslide struck villages in the canton of Valais.

BBC