New criminal proceedings for fatal landslide in Bondo GR
Published: Wednesday, Jan 31st 2024, 09:50
Updated At: Wednesday, Jan 31st 2024, 09:50
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Six and a half years after the deaths of eight mountaineers in the major landslide in Bondo GR, the public prosecutor's office in Graubünden is reopening the case. This has been triggered by a new expert opinion and a decision by the Federal Supreme Court. The public prosecutor's office has opened new criminal proceedings. It is investigating five people "for multiple negligent homicide".
The magazine "Beobachter" reported online on Tuesday evening about the new criminal investigation. The Graubünden public prosecutor's office confirmed the investigation on Wednesday morning at the request of Keystone-SDA.
The investigators therefore relied on a new external report by an independent geologist, which stated that the 2017 landslide had been "foreshadowed by numerous precursors". The authorities had taken an "unacceptable risk" by not closing hiking trails in advance. The results of the report by Vaud geologist Thierry Oppikofer became known in December 2023.
The new criminal investigation concerns two experts from the Graubünden Office for Forests and Natural Hazards, an external geologist and two representatives of the municipality of Bregaglia, including the former mayor and current FDP National Councillor Anna Giacometti, as the "Beobachter" wrote. No statement was available from the last three.
On the other hand, the Office for Forests and Natural Hazards commented. "The cantonal administration has a great interest in ensuring that the process is driven forward quickly and that clarity can be created for all those affected," the office announced on Wednesday. The administration will contribute to this with the necessary support.
Case reopened after complaints
The public prosecutor's office closed an initial investigation into the accident in 2019. It came to the conclusion that the landslide could not have been foreseen. However, the Federal Supreme Court upheld an appeal by the relatives of the buried victims.
It stated that the judiciary should not have relied solely on the findings of officials, but should have obtained an expert opinion. The case was then reopened.
On August 23, 2017, eight people lost their lives on a hiking trail on Piz Cengalo near Bondo in one of the biggest landslides in Switzerland for over 130 years. They came from Germany, Austria and Switzerland and have been missing ever since.
Three million cubic meters of rock thundered down into the valley in the Val Bondasca side valley of Bergell. The masses of rock rolled as a debris flow into the main Bergell valley. The mountain village of Bondo narrowly escaped destruction. Its 200 or so inhabitants were evacuated.
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