New analysis shows clear risk of deadly 2017 landslide

Eight people died in the 2017 landslide in Bondo, one of the largest in Swiss history. © Keystone / Gian Ehrenzeller

A new expert opinion on a major landslide near Bondo in canton Graubünden in 2017 shows that the authorities took an “unacceptable risk” by not closing the hiking trails in advance. The case could end up in court. Eight people died in the 2017 mountain accident.

In his almost 60-page report, geologist Thierry Oppikofer came to the conclusion that the hiking trails in the landslide area should have been closed based on a risk analysis. The German-language magazine Der Beobachter first reported on this on Friday morning and made the report available to the Keystone-SDA news agency.

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The experts from canton Graubünden had interpreted the findings from the risk analysis differently and classified the threat of a landslide as “not significantly changed”, Oppikofer wrote. Based on calculations, however, he came to the conclusion that the risk of dying on the hiking trail had “increased considerably” and that additional measures should have been taken.

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