Switzerland will evacuate a village threatened by a large ammunition depot from World War II

Swiss authorities say a 3500-ton ammunition stockpile found in an underground depot in the Bernese Alps since World War II must be cleared for security reasons, moving toward a giant project that could cost billions and require the evacuation of local residents from their homes for a decade, although probably not before 2030.

The government said the Defense Ministry has been asked to plan the necessary security and evacuation measures for the fall of 2022 at the site in Mitholz, which houses the arsenal that once held around 7,000 tons of ammunition.

Part of it exploded in 1947, killing nine people.

Authorities say the Mitholz deposit, following an analysis that began two years ago, continues to present “unacceptable” risks under current security regulations.

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Among the necessary operations will be the security of the transport networks in the central Swiss region.

Local authorities and residents were consulted about the project and gave their approval, the government said on Monday (local time).

The government says the recent study presented greater risks than previous inspections in 1949 and 1986, which determined that explosions could still occur at the site, but that the damage would likely be limited to the facility itself.

At the time, the authorities considered any cleanup to be too risky, mainly for geological reasons.

The ammunition depot was created as part of a Swiss military strategy that argued that if Switzerland, which was officially neutral during WWII, were attacked, its soldiers would take refuge in mountain hideouts and benefit from a network of underground hideouts of ammunition scattered across the Alps. country.