Little hope of finding Swiss landslide missing alive

Hopes of finding eight people missing after a massive landslide in the Swiss Alps alive are fading, police said yesterday, warning it could take weeks before all those who fled can return home.

"The chances of survival are not high," local police spokesman Roman Ruegg told reporters.

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The landslide, which struck early Wednesday, sent a huge river of rocks and mud flooding down the Piz Cengalo mountain into the outskirts of Bondo, a village near the Italian border.

The eight missing, who come from Germany, Austria and Switzerland, were hiking in the Val Bondasca region at the time.

Police said they had set off in separate groups.

A massive search and rescue operation is under way, involving some 120 emergency workers equipped with infrared cameras and mobile phone detectors, helicopters and rescue dogs.

According to Anna Giagometti, mayor of Bregaglia -- a municipality that encompasses Bondo -- paths in the area had been flagged as "dangerous" earlier this month because of falling rocks.

Speaking to the Blick daily, she said warning signs in several languages had been posted in the village.