Helicopter evacuation offered to tourists stranded in Swiss valley

Keystone-SDA

Hundreds of tourists who are still stuck in the Saas Valley in canton Valais after Thursday's landslide can be evacuated. Special helicopter flights are planned for Friday afternoon.

Around 2,200 people, mainly Swiss tourists, are currently trapped in the valley, which was cut off from the outside world after the storms. Simon Bumann, spokesman for the regional crisis unit, confirmed a report by news website Blick.ch at the request of the Keystone-SDA news agency.

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The evacuation flights, which must be approved by the Federal Office of Civil Aviation (FOCA), will be carried out on Friday between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. using Air Zermatt helicopters. “There are many senior citizens among the stranded tourists, not all of whom are necessarily in a hurry to leave,” said Bumann. This will reduce the number of necessary evacuations accordingly.

The helicopters should take off from Saas-Fee and drop the tourists off in Stalden, just a few minutes’ flight away. From there, tourists can continue their journey by train, bus or on their own. It costs CHF140 (about $165) to take advantage of these evacuation flights, reported the paper Walliser Bote. Pre-registration is not necessary.

In view of the extent of the rainfall – up to 100 liters of rain per square meter in 24 hours – the damage in the valley was not as bad as expected. No buildings were destroyed. The authorities had taken preventive measures around the streams, mainly based on the findings from the last storms at the end of June.

If all goes well, the cantonal road into the Saas Valley should be able to reopen on Sunday, said Bumann. However, this timetable still depends on the necessary permits being granted so that the construction companies concerned can carry out the required work. The road between Saas-Grund and Saas-Almagell could be reopened earlier.

Adapted from German by DeepL/ac

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