Residents of a Swiss village appear to have narrowly escaped disaster, as millions of cubic meters of rock slid down upon Brienz.
Some of the huge boulders came to a stop just inches away from the houses, which were empty as all of the village population - around 86 according to local reports - had been evacuated back in May.
Tourists are facing a massive landslide that spared the village of Brienz, far-eastern Switzerland, on June 16, 2023.
© AFP 2023 / ARND WIEGMANN
At the time, geologists had sounded the alert, warning that although the rockface above the village, fondly dubbed "the island", had been there for decades, but was growing increasingly unstable.
“Current measurements show a high acceleration over a large area,” the authorities were cited as saying in early May.
They added that up to two million cubic metres of rock material could possibly slide down in seven to 24 days. And come down it did, on June 16, in the middle of the night, not seen by anyone, according to local media, but heard.
Screenshot of Twitter post by SWI swissinfo.ch.
© Photo : Twitter
An estimated over two million cubic meters in totall of the loose rock came crashing down. Acording to local authorities, after helicopter crews assessed the scene, no visible damage to houses was confirmed.
Obviously, residents are unlikely to be allowed back to their homes any time soon, as at least another one million cubic meters of loose rock remain hovering on the mountain slope.