A landslide in Switzerland that required a complete evacuation of a village up in the Alps has left eight people, including Swiss, German and Austrian citizens, missing, the Telegraph reported.
The landslide primarily affected the Val Bondasca region where the Graubunden cantonal police have engaged in a search and rescue mission for those who are missing. "In the region of Val Bondasca, eight people who were there at the time of the landslide have not been found," a police statement read on Thursday.
At about 9:30 AM local time, rock, mud, and debris started cascading down the Piz Cengalo mountain and into the hamlet of Bondo near the Italian border.
Around a hundred people were forced to be evacuated. Many were airlifted out with helicopters.
No cell phone reception in the region
Pictures released by the Swiss media showed several farm buildings engulfed in mud and earth while roads were hit with critical damage as well.
"The missing persons were nationals from Germany, Switzerland and Austria," the statement continued. "There are often hikers in the affected area," said Graubunden police spokesperson Markus Walser. Walser also confirmed that the area did not have mobile phone reception. "We hope this is the reason we have not been able to reach the people believed to be in the area."
The images released earlier shows an unstoppable layer of thick mud and sludge coming down the mountain like lava, destroying everything in its path.
Police estimate at least 12 farms have been affected. Graubunden's main highway to the south that links Stampa to Castasegna has been closed to traffic.
Further devastation still possible
Geologists have not ruled out the possibilities of further landslides in the area. Wednesday's disaster was not the first time the region faced damage of such epic proportions.
In 2012, a huge landslide crashed into an uninhabited valley. Two years later, a mudslide in Davesco-Soragno crashed into a block of flats and killed two people while injuring four others.
Thirteen people died in 2000 when another landslide hit the canton of Valais. That was the worst landslide related tragedy in Switzerland's recent history.
An automatic debris alarm system was installed in the Piz Cengalo region in 2012. This came to the rescue on Wednesday, initiating a series of commands and alarms that deployed rapid rescue units and emergency services in the area, and saving hundreds of lives as a result.
