Cengalo landslide: trial opens in Pontresina nine years later

Nine years after the Piz Cengalo landslide, a trial opens on Monday in Pontresina to establish possible responsibility for the tragedy that killed eight hikers in 2017. The indictment runs to 12 pages.

Five people will appear before the Maloja regional court: two cantonal employees, an outside geologist, and two representatives of the municipality of Bregaglia. Among the latter is the former mayor and current National Councillor Anna Giacometti. All five are charged with multiple counts of negligent homicide and are presumed innocent until a possible conviction.

The charges

The prosecution's case rests on an independent report by Vaud-based geologist Thierry Oppikofer. According to the report, authorities had taken an "unacceptable risk" by not closing the hiking trails in Val Bondasca.

On 23 August 2017, a landslide broke off from Piz Cengalo and buried a trail in the valley under a mass of rock roughly 20 metres thick. The victims, from Switzerland, Germany and Austria, were on the trail at the time. Their bodies were never recovered.

The Maloja regional court will now have to examine, based on Oppikofer's report, whether the authorities involved failed in managing the risk in Val Bondasca.