Residents of flood-stricken parts of Switzerland continued to suffer on Friday from the aftermath of a weeklong crisis that left at least six people dead or missing.
About 400 inhabitants of the town of Brienz and a nearby village were evacuated overnight amid fears of a further landslide.
Flood waters that came tumbling down from the Alps fuelled a landslide in Brienz that destroyed eight homes on Tuesday, killing two people and leaving one seriously injured.
Worries were spurred by overnight rain in central Switzerland, the hardest-hit region.
But the rainfall was lighter than expected, and water levels in lakes and rivers continued to fall.
In the capital, Bern, authorities were concerned that the low-lying Matte district along the Aare river could again be hit by floods because of work to clear locks upstream.
Experts were surveying buildings in the district, many of which date from the Middle Ages, before allowing 1 100 evacuated residents to return home.
There were concerns that flooding had damaged the buildings’ foundations after their lower floors were under water for five days.
Although roads in the worst-affected areas were still blocked, most transport was slowly returning to normal.
The Gotthard tunnel, the main rail route between northern and southern Europe, was reopened. But trains were running on a reduced schedule. — Sapa-AFP