Man missing after glacier in Switzerland collapses and destroys village
The landslide sent plumes of dust into the sky and coated with mud nearly all of an Alpine village that authorities had evacuated earlier this month as a precaution.
State councilor Stephane Ganzer told Radio Television Suisse that 90% of the village was destroyed.
The Cantonal Police of Valais said that a search and rescue operation was under way for the man, whose name has not been made public, and it involved a drone with a thermal camera.
The regional government said in a statement that a large chunk of the Birch Glacier above the village had broken off, causing the landslide, which also buried the nearby Lonza River bed, raising the possibility of dammed water flows.
Video on social media and Swiss television showed that the mudslide near Blatten, in the southern Lotschental valley, partially submerged homes and other buildings under a mass of sludge.
In recent days, authorities had ordered the evacuation of about 300 people, as well as all livestock, from the village amid fears that the 52 million-cubic foot glacier was at risk of collapse.
Swiss glaciologists have repeatedly expressed concerns about a thaw in recent years – attributed in large part to climate change – that has accelerated the retreat of glaciers in Switzerland.
The landlocked Alpine country has the most glaciers of any country in Europe, and saw 4% of its total glacier volume disappear in 2023. That was the second-biggest decline in a single year after a 6% drop in 2022.
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Terrifying satellite images show how tiny Swiss village of Blatten was completely wiped out by massive glacier collapse
New terrifying satellite images have revealed how a tiny Swiss village was completely wiped out by a massive glacier collapse. The remote Alpine village of Blatten was flattened after an avalanche of rock, mud and ice was sent crashing down into the valley. Once home to around 300 people, it now lies buried beneath a vast expanse of debris after the Birch Glacier broke off on Wednesday afternoon. Authorities say 90 per cent of the village has been destroyed. New satellite pictures reveal the true scale of the disaster, showing where homes, farmland and roads once stood, now completely smothered by mud and rubble. The river Lonza, which runs through the valley, has been blocked by the landslide, which had raised fears of further flooding. But as reconnaissance flights and inspections continued, authorities said water from the newly formed lake, which has been slowly submerging the remaining houses in the obliterated village of Blatten, was beginning to find its way over, through and around the blockage. 'This development is positive, but we remain cautious,' said Stephane Ganzer, head of the regional security department. 'The risk remains, even if it is diminishing,' he told a press conference, adding that 'no evacuations are planned' in the villages downstream in the Lötschental valley, one of the most picturesque regions in southern Switzerland. The outflow "makes us optimistic and suggests that the water is finding a good path", explained Christian Studer of the Wallis canton's Natural Hazards Service. However, work to pump water from the lake has still not begun as the ground remains too unstable, particularly on the mountainside. One 64-year-old man is still missing. He was believed to be in the area at the time. Switzerland's president has pledged support for those forced to flee the Alpine village of Blatten, telling evacuees they are 'not alone' after a devastating glacier-triggered landslide wiped out homes and businesses. Karin Keller-Sutter made the comments on Friday after surveying the destruction by helicopter. She said the government was now working to calculate ways to help those affected by the disaster. 'The force with which the mountain here wiped out an entire village is indescribable,' said Keller-Sutter. 'I'd like to tell you all that you're not alone. The whole of Switzerland is with you — and not just (people) in Switzerland.' Officials have limited access to the area and warned that huge deposits of debris, stacked tens of metres high across a 2-kilometre stretch of the valley, have blocked the Lonza River and formed a new lake. New satellite pictures reveal the true scale of the disaster, showing where homes, farmland and roads once stood, now completely smothered by mud and rubble The future course of the water remains uncertain. 'Unfortunately, the danger has not yet been averted,' Keller-Sutter added. Separate drone footage shown by national broadcaster SRF showed a vast plain of mud and soil completely covering part of the village and the river running through it. At around 3:30pm local time, a huge chunk of the Birch glacier broke off, according to emergency services in the Wallis region. Local police said the missing 64-year-old man was a local resident who was in the area at the time of the incident. A search and rescue operation was launched, with three specialists airlifted to the scene, while a drone with a thermal imaging camera was also used. 'Despite significant efforts, the man has still not been found,' police said. The village, including residents and a herd of 52 cows, had mostly been evacuated this week amid fears the 52mn cubic ft glacier was days away from collapse. 'We've lost our village,' Matthias Bellwald, the mayor of Blatten told a press conference after the slide. 'The village is under rubble. We will rebuild.' The glacier collapse had been expected for several days, and there have been no reports of injuries. 'An unbelievable amount of material thundered down into the valley,' said Matthias Ebener, a spokesperson for local authorities in the southwestern canton of Valais. Stephane Ganzer, an official in the canton of Valais where Blatten is located, told Swiss media that about 90% of the village was covered by the landslide. 'it's a major catastrophe that has happened here in Blatten,' he said, adding: 'There's a risk that the situation could get worse,' alluding to the blocked river. 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The shocking event in Valais on Wednesday, May 28, caused the village of Blatten to be subjected to an immense amount of debris consisting of various pieces of rock and ice. Looming floodwaters are threatening to strike two more Swiss villages in after a glacier collapse saw nearly an entire village become buried under snow. The shocking avalanche in Valais on Wednesday, May 28, saw the village of Blatten subjected to an immense amount of debris consisting of various pieces of rock and ice. It occurred after a chunk of the Birch Glacier in the south of Switzerland fell off, with broken pieces of the wedge tumbling down the mountain and leaving a huge dust cloud in the area around the village, with 90 per cent of the town now being buried in debris. The 300 people who live in Blatten were evacuated before the landslide, but authorities have since stated that one individual is still missing. Following the dramatic turn of events, the two villages of Kippel and Wiler have been ordered to evacuate by authorities as a safety precaution. This is due to the earlier landslide now blocking the river Lonza, creating a makeshift dam that could burst and devastate the two settlements while also sweeping the debris from yesterday's event into the area. Antoine Jacquod, a military security official, told the Keystone-ATS news agency: "'There is a serious risk of an ice jam that could flood the valley below." The army has since made a statement that equipment such as water pumps and diggers were being made available as needed. Christoph Hegg of the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL) told Blick:"The lake behind the debris is getting higher and higher. And the water masses are pressing on the dam. This increases the pressure." He added: "The worst case scenario is that the load on the dam becomes too great and the dam breaks. The water masses then rush into the valley and, depending on the strength of the material, are likely to sweep the debris with them." Local politician Christophe Darbellay told news outlet 20 Minuten that Blatten had "disappeared from the map", while locals told the outlet that a sewage treatment facility and power plant which had recently been built could be destroyed by the potential flood posed by the river Lonza. Blatten's president Matthias Bellwald said during a press conference yesterday that the "unimaginable" had happened. He said: "We have lost our village, but not our hearts. "Even though the village lies under a huge pile of rubble, we know where our homes and our church must be rebuilt." Climate change has been proposed as a likely reason for the devastating events seen in the region as a result of the Birch Glacier. Matthias Huss, head of the Glacier Monitoring in Switzerland (GLAMOS), said that rocks in the permafrost zone of the mountain had possibly loosened and contributed to the collapse. He told Reuters:"Unexpected things happen at places that we have not seen for hundreds of years, most probably due to climate change."
