Swiss village threatened by vast rockslide must be evacuated again

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VIENNA (Reuters) – A small Swiss village that attracted global attention last year when it was evacuated because the mountain face above it threatened to collapse onto it must be evacuated again, local officials said on Saturday.

The municipality of Albula in eastern Switzerland, which includes the village, Brienz, cited the risk of a rockslide like the one that narrowly missed the village in June last year after the last evacuation.

“The municipality of Albula/Alvra’s leadership team … is preparing a precautionary evacuation of Brienz/Brinzauls,” it said on social media platform X, using names in German and Romansch, a language spoken locally.

A briefing for residents would be held at 7 p.m. (1800 GMT), it added.

The authorities ordered its 84 residents to abandon the village on May 12, 2023 over fears that it could be buried under falling rocks. When a rockslide narrowly missed it a month later, only some farmers had been allowed to return temporarily to tend to nearby fields.