Alert level declared

Landslide after severe weather in Switzerland: 2 dead

Severe storms hit Switzerland.

(Bild: Sheraz & Lisa Photography stock.adobe)

A tragic landslide has occurred in the Maggia Valley in the Swiss canton of Ticino following heavy storms. Rescue workers recovered two dead bodies. One person is still missing.

On Sunday night, severe storms swept across Switzerland, bringing a lot of water. There was flooding in Ticino and Zermatt, and the Rhone in Valais burst its banks in several places. Flooding also occurred on the tributaries. The peak of the Rhone flood was reached in the Upper Valais on Sunday night, the cantonal management body (KFO) wrote in a statement. It is expected to reach the Lower Valais in the morning.

Difficult rescue work
The bad weather made the rescue work more difficult. The road through the Maggia Valley was also interrupted and several side valleys were no longer accessible by land. The campsites along the Maggia were evacuated, it was reported. The newspaper "La Regione" reported online that some of the affected areas lost power and internet connections.

Storms led to severe flooding:

The disaster, which has so far claimed two lives, occurred in the Fontana area, according to the Ticino cantonal police. The identity of the victims has not yet been released. Identification is underway, it said.

Due to the situation, the cantonal authorities in Valais also issued an alert for the Rhone itself. They had already done so for the tributaries of the Rhone on Saturday afternoon.

Rail traffic restricted
According to the SBB, rail traffic was restricted around Riddes due to flooding. According to the Matterhorn Gotthard Railway, there was also an interruption on the Visp-Andermatt line due to the risk of flooding. The federal government's natural hazard portal warned of the risk of flooding in the Rhone from the Saltina estuary to Lake Geneva, according to the website.

Videos showing flooding in the municipality of Zermatt VS were also circulating on the X platform. The Federal Roads Office Astra announced on its website that the feeder road between Täsch and Zermatt was closed due to flooding.