Swiss Get Plenty of Pieces of Their Rock
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GURTNELLEN, Switzerland — A demolition team on Wednesday blew up a 5,000-ton granite boulder that authorities said had threatened for months to plunge down onto a small village and block a main rail line.
The 10:40 a.m. blast sent an avalanche of rock fragments to the floor of the narrow Reuss Valley in central Switzerland, temporarily blocking a minor road and damaging a high-voltage line, said Reinhard Wyrsch, spokesman for the demolition team.
About 100 residents of Gurtnellen were temporarily evacuated, and no one was reported injured.
The rock, perched about 990 feet above the village, had been inching downhill since last fall, according to tests done by the demolition team, and authorities decided in early January to remove it with explosives.
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