Swiss police allow some villagers to go home after mudslide

GENEVA – Police in eastern Switzerland say some residents of a village pummeled by a rocky mudslide have been authorized to return home, as searchers resumed the hunt for eight missing people.

Regional Graubuenden police said in a statement Friday that the evacuation order was gradually being lifted after the disaster Wednesday in the village of Bondo, about 130 kilometers (80 miles) north of Milan, Italy.

Police sealed off airspace for a five-kilometer (three-mile) radius to give priority access to rescuers who suspended the search for the missing Swiss, German and Austrian nationals overnight.

Authorities about 4 million cubic meters (140 million cubic feet) of rocks and mud rolled through the village, prompting the immediate evacuation of about 100 residents.

News reports said some residents feared another mudslide could hit.