Rockfall Most residents of Brienz GR stay in the immediate vicinity

On Friday, eight army trucks were deployed in the Graubünden mountain village of Brienz to evacuate the village. Almost all of the approximately 80 inhabitants of the village are being accommodated in the surrounding area, according to the community spokesperson.

The army's spontaneous assistance was provided at the request of the civilian authorities, as the Federal Department of Defense, Civil Protection and Sport (DDPS) wrote on Platform X late on Friday afternoon. Members of the 11th Armored Regiment helped to remove the food for the evacuated animals.

The people affected by the evacuation of the village of Brienz had largely sought a solution themselves, explained Christian Gartmann, spokesman for the municipality of Albula, to the Keystone-SDA news agency. Those who contacted the municipality received help in finding accommodation.

The deadline for evacuating the village expires at 1 p.m. on Sunday. An inspection tour will then take place to ensure that no one is still in the danger zone, Gartmann added. The mountain village must be evacuated for safety reasons and access may be prohibited for several months.

Using helicopter flights, specialists installed further measuring instruments in the debris cone on the slope above the village on Friday. This means that the mountain and the sliding speed of the rock masses can continue to be monitored precisely.

Second evacuation in a year and a half

The village of Brienz is threatened by a rock avalanche. 1.2 million cubic meters of debris are moving down the valley and threaten to bury the mountain village.

This is the second evacuation in a year and a half for the inhabitants. They already had to leave their homes in May last year. Back then, a rockslide threatened to sweep the entire village away. The following month, on the night of 16 June, huge volumes of rock finally shot down the slope and came to a halt just a few meters from the village.

SDA