Mud and rock bury Swiss village after glacier collapse, one person missing
GENEVA —A huge chunk of a glacier in the Swiss Alps broke off on Wednesday afternoon, causing a deluge of ice, mud and rock to bury part of a mountain village evacuated earlier this month due to the risk of a rockslide, authorities said.
One person is currently missing, officials said.
Drone footage broadcast by Swiss national broadcaster SRF showed a vast plain of mud and soil completely covering part of the village of Blatten, the river running through it and the wooded sides of the surrounding valley.
"An unbelievable amount of material thundered down into the valley," said Matthias Ebener, a spokesperson for local authorities in the southwestern canton of Valais.
One person was missing, Ebener said.
The rubble of shattered wooden buildings could be seen on the flanks of the huge mass of earth in the drone footage.
Buildings and infrastructure in Blatten, whose roughly 300 inhabitants were evacuated on May 19 after geologists had identified the risk of an imminent avalanche of rock and ice from above, were hit hard by the rockslide, Ebener said.
SRF said houses were destroyed in the village nestled in the Loetschental valley in southern Switzerland.
Swiss President Karin Keller-Sutter expressed her solidarity with the local population as emergency services warned people the area was hazardous and urged them to stay away, closing off the main road into the valley.
"It's terrible to lose your home," Keller-Sutter said on X.
Authorities have been monitoring the slopes above Blatten since ordering residents to leave their homes.
A video shared widely on social media showed the dramatic moment when the glacier partially collapsed, creating a huge cloud that covered part of the mountain as rock and debris came rumbling down into the outskirts of the village.—Reuters
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
GMA Network
3 days ago
- GMA Network
Plane hit by turbulence makes emergency landing in Germany; 9 injured
A Milan-bound Ryanair flight was forced to make an emergency landing in southern Germany late on Wednesday due to heavy turbulence from a thunderstorm, with nine passengers injured, police said. The flight from Berlin landed safely in Memmingen, about 115 km (70 miles) west of Munich, after bad weather prompted the pilot to initiate the emergency landing, Bavaria police said in a statement. Among the injured were a woman who sustained a head injury, her two-year-old toddler who suffered bruises, and a 59-year-old woman complaining of back pain, police said. All three were treated in hospital, while other injuries were treated at the scene. Ryanair said in a statement on Thursday that the flight's captain had requested medical assistance ahead of landing. The airline, which apologized to those affected, said it provided a bus service from Memmingen to Milan late on Wednesday as well as a replacement flight early on Thursday. — Reuters
GMA Network
28-05-2025
- GMA Network
Mud and rock bury Swiss village after glacier collapse, one person missing
GENEVA —A huge chunk of a glacier in the Swiss Alps broke off on Wednesday afternoon, causing a deluge of ice, mud and rock to bury part of a mountain village evacuated earlier this month due to the risk of a rockslide, authorities said. One person is currently missing, officials said. Drone footage broadcast by Swiss national broadcaster SRF showed a vast plain of mud and soil completely covering part of the village of Blatten, the river running through it and the wooded sides of the surrounding valley. "An unbelievable amount of material thundered down into the valley," said Matthias Ebener, a spokesperson for local authorities in the southwestern canton of Valais. One person was missing, Ebener said. The rubble of shattered wooden buildings could be seen on the flanks of the huge mass of earth in the drone footage. Buildings and infrastructure in Blatten, whose roughly 300 inhabitants were evacuated on May 19 after geologists had identified the risk of an imminent avalanche of rock and ice from above, were hit hard by the rockslide, Ebener said. SRF said houses were destroyed in the village nestled in the Loetschental valley in southern Switzerland. Swiss President Karin Keller-Sutter expressed her solidarity with the local population as emergency services warned people the area was hazardous and urged them to stay away, closing off the main road into the valley. "It's terrible to lose your home," Keller-Sutter said on X. Authorities have been monitoring the slopes above Blatten since ordering residents to leave their homes. A video shared widely on social media showed the dramatic moment when the glacier partially collapsed, creating a huge cloud that covered part of the mountain as rock and debris came rumbling down into the outskirts of the village.—Reuters
GMA Network
24-05-2025
- GMA Network
Australia begins clean-up after floods kill 5, damage 10,000 properties
A drone view shows a boat at a flooded stud farm near the Hunter River in Heatherbrae, Australia, May 24, 2025. REUTERS/Hollie Adams SYDNEY - Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Saturday the clean-up had begun in the country's southeast after floods killed five people and inundated more than 10,000 properties. "We're continuing to work closely across federal, state and local governments to make sure Australians get the support they need now and through recovery," Albanese said on social media platform X. Damage assessments were under way in New South Wales' hard-hit mid-north coast region after floods this week cut off towns, swept away livestock and destroyed homes, the state's emergency services agency said. It estimated that at least 10,000 properties may have been damaged. Conditions had improved since Friday in the affected areas of Australia's most populous state, the agency said. Even so, hundreds of flood-hit residents were still in evacuation centers, State Emergency Services commissioner Mike Wassing said at a media conference in Sydney, with 52 flood rescues being made overnight. The latest flood-linked death was that of a man in his 80s, whose body was found at a flooded property about 50 km (31 miles) from Taree, one of the worst-hit towns, police said. Albanese, forced on Friday to cancel a trip to Taree due to floodwaters, said it was "awful to hear the news of more loss of life". Taree sits along the Manning River more than 300 km (186 miles) north of Sydney. "All of our thoughts are with his loved ones and the community at this time," Albanese said in a statement. The floods, sparked by days of incessant rain, submerged intersections and street signs in mid-north coast towns and covered cars up to their windshields, after fast-rising waters burst river banks. At their peak, the floods isolated around 50,000 people. Australia has been hit with more extreme weather events that some experts say are the result of climate change. After droughts and devastating bushfires at the end of last decade, frequent floods have wreaked havoc since early 2021. —Reuters
