10 years ago 13 people were killed by a landslide in the Swiss village of Gondo. Commune president Roland Squaratti tells swissinfo.ch how life has changed.On Oct. 14, 2000, the tiny village on the Swiss-Italian border was sliced in two by a 40-metre-wide swathe of mud and rocks loosened by three days of torrential rain.
The heart of the village was destroyed and almost all the 165 surviving inhabitants were evacuated. The landslide swept away 10 houses, the school, shops and the road. It also reduced most of the Stockalper Tower to rubble, leaving only the very oldest part of the building standing.
The tower was built by a noble Valais family in the 17th century. At the time, the Simplon road – on which Gondo stands – formed part of an important trading route between northern and southern Europe. Even today, up to 100,000 trucks pass through the village a year.
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