Villagers’ crumbling mountainside risk

BRIENZ: Swiss authorities have ordered residents to abandon a tiny mountain village in the eastern canton of Graubunden because of fears it will soon be buried beneath a collapsing mountainside.

Yesterday, a thick coat of fog covered the mountaintop overlooking the village of Brienz, where vegetation has been replaced by slopes of mud and rocks.

The Brienz population of less than 100 people have been given until tonight to evacuate.

Climate change is putting Switzerland at increased risk of natural hazards, including an increase in erosion due to higher temperatures, officials say. |