Situation below evacuated Swiss village eases

A bus stop – and a blocked road – outside the village of Brienz, canton Graubünden. Keystone-SDA

There is no longer any danger from possible rockfalls or landslides on the roads below the village of Brienz in canton Graubünden, authorities have said.

+Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox

The municipality of Albula therefore shelved some previously introduced safety measures on Sunday afternoon.

The ground, which had softened due to heavy rainfall, has since been able to dry out, the municipality wrote in a situation report on Sunday. It thus planned to lift a ban for cyclists and pedestrians on the affected roads and the hiking trail at midday. Fishing and canoeing on the Albula river were also to be again permitted.

The restrictions had been in place since last Monday. Several rockfalls had occurred due to rain, which accelerated the debris pile above the village. Masses of rubble can move much further on soaked ground than on dry ground, authorities warn. There was therefore a small risk of a debris avalanche reaching the roads.

It is still forbidden to enter Brienz and the surrounding area. As soon as the situation allows, evacuees will be able to visit the village during the day; it was evacuated due to rockfall last November.

Translated from German by DeepL/dos

How we work

We select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools to translate them into English. A journalist then reviews the translation for clarity and accuracy before publication.  

Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles. The news stories we select have been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team from news agencies such as Bloomberg or Keystone.

If you have any questions about how we work, write to us at [e-mail].