A landslide destroyed or buried half a dozen houses in Schwanden in canton Glarus late on Tuesday.
This content was published on
2 minutes
Keystone-SDA/ac
The landslide occurred at around 5.30pm near the Wagenrunse, above Schwanden in the municipality of South Glarus, according to the cantonal police. Masses of earth and rock rolled downhill for 400 metres. At around 7.30pm, other masses of earth continued to move.
According to the police, more than half a dozen houses were destroyed or buried. No one was injured. Buildings located in the landslide zone have been evacuated and access to the surrounding area is forbidden. Evacuations have also taken place in the wider catchment area.
Not yet in the clear
The night remained relatively calm. However, the situation remains unstable and further landslides could occur, a police spokesman told Swiss public radio SRF on Wednesday morning. The risk was also difficult to assess because of the darkness, noted Glarus police staff officer Richard Schmidt.
Five households and two businesses in the area had already been evacuated a week ago. Since then, it has been forbidden to enter the area. When questioned by news agency Keystone-SDA, the police that the cordoned-off area would be extended. Around 100 people have been evacuated.
More
More
Huge landslide narrowly misses Swiss mountain village
This content was published on
A large section of the crumbling mountain above Brienz/Brinzauls broke off around midnight narrowly missing the village in southeastern Switzerland.
This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate them into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles. You can find them here.
If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to english@swissinfo.ch.
Popular Stories
More
Climate change
Switzerland turns train tracks into solar power plants
In Switzerland more people are being referred to electrical therapies or psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy. Are there similar approaches where you live?
Living longer: What do you think about the longevity trend?
The longevity market is booming thanks in part to advances in the science of ageing. What do you think of the idea of significantly extending human lifespan?
Basel prepares 700 volunteers for the Eurovision Song Contest
This content was published on
Around 320 people took part in one of the two official information events for the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) in Basel on Friday.
More Swiss soldiers involved in accidents during training in Austria
This content was published on
The Swiss army has reported various accidents involving Swiss soldiers during the exercise “TRIAS 25” in Austria. Some have led to hospitalisations.
Swiss court rules vegan meat substitutes can’t use animal names
This content was published on
Vegan meat substitutes may not bear animal names such as “planted.chicken” according to a ruling by the Swiss Federal Supreme Court.
Swiss cantons spared duty to create new traveller transit sites
This content was published on
Swiss cantons will no longer be formally obliged by the government to create new transit sites for the travelling community.
Swiss politicians bemoan limited access to EU treaty details
This content was published on
Protests that only a few Swiss parliamentarians will be able to read the contents of a new agreement negotiated with the EU.
This content was published on
For the first time, most Swiss residents favour withdrawing their pension pot as a lump-sum over regular annuity payments.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.