Heavy rain speeds up slide of mountain towards Swiss village

The rockslide has been threatening the village for some time. © Keystone / Gian Ehrenzeller

Weeks of heavy rainfall has again increased the risk of a mountainside engulfing the Swiss alpine village of Brienz/Brinzauls.

Around 85 millimetres of rain has fallen on the unstable Bröckelberg massif since the start of the month. A decisive burst of 14 millimetres on Friday accelerated the rate at which a section of the mountain is descending into the valley.

+ Read about the deadliest Swiss landslides

The 85 residents of Brienz/Brinzauls were allowed to return to their homes on June 22 following an evacuation the previous month.

In between times, a huge landslide resulted in 1.5 million cubic meters of rock sliding down the mountainside, narrowly avoiding the village but covering an access road and leaving a significant deposit in front of the school building.

A three square kilometre section of the mountain has been inexorably sliding towards the village at an average rate of more than a metre a year, before picking up speed in recent months.

The local authorities reported the latest worrying findings on Thursday, but there was no mention of another evacuation at this point.

The village in the southwestern Swiss canton of Graubünden is due to receive some relief in the shape of a new drainage tunnel, which was voted through last week.

The local council hopes the federal authorities will foot 90% of the CHF40 million ($46 million) bill.