Christmas visits a no-go after slide cuts off Austrian town

FRANKFURT – People in an Austrian mountain village are spending an unusually quiet Christmas holiday period after a rockslide cut off access to the town.

The dpa news agency reported Tuesday that some 150 people were stuck at home in Vals, about 40 kilometres (25 miles) south of Innsbruck after tons of rock and rubble slid off the nearby mountain on Sunday, Christmas Eve.

While they may have been unable to drive to the in-laws, it’s unlikely anyone in the valley is going hungry.

Mayor Klaus Ungerank said people had stocked up on groceries before Christmas anyway.

Bulldozers were at work clearing an alternate roadway that was expected to be opened Wednesday.