Residents of Swiss landslide village go home after more than a year

Residents of Brienz/Brinzauls return home. Keystone-SDA

The evacuation of the Graubünden village of Brienz/Brinzauls in eastern Switzerland, which had been threatened by a landslide, was lifted on Monday after more than a year. "A great relief," said the mayor.

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It looks like a ghost village. Most of the shutters are closed – only a few villagers are returning. “We hope that those who never gave up hope can now return,” said Daniel Albertin, mayor of the municipality of Albula, in an interview with the Swiss News Agency Keystone-SDA.

One of them is Hermann Bossi. He is bringing his belongings back to his house this Monday. He is not afraid of the masses of rock, he said.

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The cancellation also harbours uncertainty for the future, Albertin continued. Many residents have signed up for preventive resettlement. The return casts doubt on this decision.

In the meantime, the municipality began to reinstall traffic signs that had been removed. These were removed during the 62 weeks.

Adapted from German by AI/ts

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