In Switzerland, half a dozen houses were buried and partially destroyed in a landslide. The incident happened in the canton of Glarus in the east of the country. Nobody was injured.
A landslide following heavy rains buried or destroyed half a dozen houses in the village of Schwanden, Switzerland. According to the police, the incident happened yesterday afternoon in the canton of Glarus in the east of the country.
Accordingly, large amounts of mud and debris slid down the slope and devastated an area more than 400 meters long. Hours later, a second mudslide rolled over the village. Nobody was injured in the incident.
Hundreds of residents had to be brought to safety in Schwanden.
More landslides are possible
Experts anticipate further dangers. “It is assumed that there may be more landslides,” said the police spokesman in the canton of Glarus to the Swiss broadcaster SRF. However, an exact risk assessment is only possible during the course of the day.
A large piece of earth has slipped from the partly wooded slope over a meadow to the edge of the village of Schwanden. Video footage released by Swiss media showed masses of rock thundering down a slope, uprooting trees and damaging buildings. The debris cone is around 400 meters long and a few dozen meters wide, said the police spokesman. The full extent of the damage is still unclear.
Danger already recognized last week
Because of the heavy rains, the danger was recognized last week and a restricted area was set up. The danger zone was expanded on Tuesday evening. Hundreds of residents had to be brought to safety.
Large amounts of rain had fallen in Switzerland in the past few days. The situation has calmed down in many places since then, and the Gotthard Pass, which has been closed since Monday, has been reopened, according to the Ticino canton police of the Swiss news agency Keystone-SDA.