Massive Rockslide Misses Town ‘By a Hair’

A Swiss village narrowly escaped being destroyed this week, when a mountain collapse caused a rockslide that came to a halt just short of the town’s school.

Officials said that the rockslide missed the village “by a hair,” according to AFP. 

The village of Brienz had first been evacuated in May, when local officials began to fear that the unstable mountain might soon fall onto the town. After an emergency meeting on May 9, Brienz’s residents were told they had 48 hours to evacuate, according to the BBC. 

The mountain slowly crumbled for a few weeks, prompting frustration from villagers who thought they should be able to return home, according to the BBC.

Then between 11 p.m. and midnight on June 15, two million cubic meters of loose rock crashed outside the village, stopping short of the school, according to AFP. 

"A large part of [the mountain] collapsed rapidly. There is no indication of damage in the village, with the rock mass having stopped just in front of the village," local officials said in a tweet. 

While Brienz is safe for now, officials warn that this might not be the last of the rockslides. 

“We are working on the assumption that this was not yet the end of it,” community spokesperson Christopher Gartmann told Swiss TV. 

Officials are continuing to observe the movement of the rock masses around the village, according to a tweet from the local government. 

In the meantime, however, villagers are still evacuated and unable to return home.