8 people missing following landslide in Switzerland

By Courtney Spamer, AccuWeather meteorologist

August 25,2017, 8:17:04AM,EDT

 

A landslide in the Swiss Alps hit a village in eastern Switzerland on Wednesday and sent mud and rocks into the streets, forcing people to evacuate.

Evacuations of about 100 people following the 9:30 a.m. local time alarm, which included some hikers in the area and residents of the village of Bondo, near the Italian border, according to the Telegraph.
As of midday on Thursday, residents were still not allowed to return home.
In addition to the evacuations, eight people were reported missing by area police.
Search and rescue missions began Wednesday evening and continued into Thursday and Friday, looking for the missing people with help from the Swiss Army helicopters.
The mud and rock that slid down the Piz Cengalo mountian made roads impassible, including the main road linking the cities of Stampa and Castasegna.
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Police said that at least twelve farm buildings were destroyed as well.
This is not the first landslide to to hit the Val Bondasca region. A 2012 landslide, which prompted the installation of the automatic alarm system, sent 400 million cubic meters of mud and gravel into an uninhabited valley.