Bondo rockfall trial opens over deaths of eight hikers

Five people went on trial Monday over the deaths of eight hikers killed in the 2017 Bondo rockfall, SRF reported. They are charged with multiple counts of negligent homicide.

The Maloja Regional Court will examine whether the danger posed by the unstable mountain slope was assessed incorrectly before the disaster. The defendants are Anna Giacometti, who was Bregaglia’s mayor at the time and is now a member of Switzerland’s National Council, two employees of the cantonal Office for Forests and Natural Hazards, an employee of the municipality of Bregaglia and an external geologist.

The indictment alleges that the rockfall was preceded by several warning signs that the defendants failed to recognise and take into account in their assessment of the danger. It says that closing the hiking trails should have been considered, but that the defendants remained inactive.

According to prosecutors, the unstable rock mass was moving faster, smaller collapses were occurring more frequently, larger rockfalls took place on August 12, 13 and 21, and the upper part of the fractured slope had become loosened.

The indictment says the defendants were obliged to recommend or implement safety measures. It was known that the section of trail where the eight people died could be buried by a rockfall. The deaths could have been prevented with a closure “in all probability”, prosecutors argue.

On August 10, the external geologist recommended that people temporarily stop entering Val Bondasca. However, an inspection two days later found no activity on the mountain. On August 14, those responsible assessed a rockfall as an event likely to occur within weeks or months and considered the remaining risk acceptable for the municipality. Val Bondasca remained open.

The trial follows an earlier investigation. In 2019, prosecutors closed the case, arguing that the rockfall could not have been predicted. Their decision relied on a report from the responsible cantonal office, where two possible defendants worked.

Relatives of the eight hikers successfully appealed to Switzerland’s Federal Supreme Court in 2021, forcing prosecutors to reconsider the case. The current indictment is based on an external assessment by an independent geologist, who described the warning signs and called leaving the hiking trails open an “unacceptable risk”.

The court will assess each of the five defendants’ responsibility separately. The proceedings are scheduled to last three days, from Monday to Wednesday, with a verdict expected on Wednesday.