Eight people have been missing for more than a day following a landslide in Switzerland.

Police said the landslide struck a remote valley in the south-east of the country yesterday.

Authorities evacuated approximately 100 people from several small villages and airlifted hikers from mountain huts in the Val Bondasca region in Graubünden - a province (or canton) in the east of the country.

Rescue workers were unable to reach eight people in the area despite intense search efforts.

Emergency services said 12 farm buildings, including barns and stables, had been destroyed.

The missing people, from Germany, Austria and Switzerland, had been reported missing by relatives.

The ongoing search is being assisted by an army helicopter.

An alarm system, which was introduced after a similar mudslide five years ago, allowed time for the evacuation.

Graubuenden police spokesman Markus Walzer said the cause of the mudslide was not yet known.

He said the weather had been good in recent days.