As a landslide threatens an Alpine village, Swiss authorities expand the evacuation order

GENEVA — Swiss authorities on Monday expanded the evacuation of an Alpine village threatened by a possible landslide, ordering most of its people to leave.

More than 90 people were evacuated on Saturday night from their homes in Blatten, in the Lötschental — a valley above the larger Rhone valley in the southern Valais canton (state).

On Monday, authorities in Valais announced the complete evacuation of the village of some 300 people, with the exception of two areas, citing a risk of falling rocks and landslides. It wasn't immediately clear when residents would be able to return home.

Local official Matthias Ebener told public broadcaster SRF that “the situation is very acute.” There have been repeated small rockfalls in the area.

In 2023, residents of the village of Brienz in eastern Switzerland were evacuated before a huge mass of rock slid down a mountainside, stopping just short of the settlement. Brienz was evacuated again last year because of the threat of a further rockslide.