Swiss glacier collapse buries the majority of the village of Blatten
A massive chunk of rock and ice from a glacier cascaded down a Swiss mountainside on Wednesday, sending clouds of dust into the air and covering almost the entire Alpine village, which officials had evacuated earlier this month as a safety measure.
Footage shared on social media and Swiss television showed the mudslide occurring near Blatten, located in the southern Lötschental valley, where residences and structures were partially submerged under a large mass of sludge.
Regional police said a 64-year-old man was reported missing, and search and rescue operations involving a drone with thermal camera were under way.
'What I can tell you at the moment is that about 90% of the village is covered or destroyed, so it's a major catastrophe that has happened here in Blatten," said Stephane Ganzer, the head of security in the southern Valais region.
The regional government announced in a statement that a significant portion of the Birch Glacier located above the village had disintegrated, resulting in a landslide that also covered the nearby Lonza River bed, thereby increasing the risk of dammed water flows.
'There's a risk that the situation could get worse,' Ganzer said, alluding to the blocked river.
He added that the army had been mobilised following previous indications that the glacier's movement was speeding up.
During a press conference, Swiss Environment Minister Albert Rösti expressed his sorrow over what he described as "an extraordinary event" and stated that the government would implement measures to assist the villagers who have lost their homes.
In the past few days, officials have ordered the evacuation of approximately 300 people, along with all livestock, from the village due to concerns that the 1.5 million cubic metre glacier may be on the verge of collapsing.
Swiss glaciologists have consistently voiced their worries regarding a thaw observed in recent years, largely attributed to global warming, which has hastened the retreat of glaciers in Switzerland.
The Alpine nation, which is landlocked, possesses the highest number of glaciers among all European countries, and experienced a loss of 4% of its total glacier volume in 2023. This marked the second-largest decrease in a single year, following a 6% reduction in 2022.
Russia is proposing to hold a second round of talks aimed at finding a way to bring their invasion of Ukraine to an end. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov announced that the Kremlin is prepared to engage in further negotiations with Kyiv in Istanbul on 2 June.
The Russian top diplomat also stated that Moscow has come up with a list of issues it deems integral to the war. Lavrov says that Russia has come up with ways to overcome what he called 'root causes of the crisis' in a corresponding memorandum.
'The Russian side, as agreed, promptly developed a corresponding memorandum, which sets out our position on all aspects of reliably overcoming the root causes of the crisis (with Ukraine),' said Lavrov.
'Our delegation, headed by (Russian presidential aide) Vladimir Medinsky, is ready to present this memorandum to the Ukrainian delegation and provide the necessary explanations during the second round of resumed direct negotiations in Istanbul next Monday, June 2,' he added.
The announcement comes after Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan held meetings with Lavrov and Russian President Vladimir Putin on a two-day visit to Moscow, to explore ways his country can further advance the peace process.
Lavrov expressed his gratitude to Fidan and Turkey, thanking them for providing a platform for the negotiations.
'I would like to once again express my gratitude to our Turkish partners for providing a hospitable Turkish platform.'
Lavrov also took the opportunity to snap back at the countries who've been accusing Russia of not being serious about peace.
'We hope that all those who are sincerely, and not just in words, interested in the success of the peace process will support holding a new round of direct Russian-Ukrainian negotiations in Istanbul,' he added.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump is sending mixed signals on the ongoing peace efforts.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump said that he was "very disappointed" in Russian President Vladmir Putin's decision to escalate attacks on Ukraine as the two sides are negotiating an end to the war.
"I can say this that I'm very disappointed at what happened a couple of nights now where people were killed in the middle of what you would call a negotiation. I'm disappointed by that, very, very disappointed," Trump said.
He however noted that he's holding off on new sanctions on Russia because he doesn't want to interfere with his attempts to negotiate peace.
'If I think I'm close to getting a deal, I don't want to screw it up by doing that,' Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. 'Let me tell you, I'm a lot tougher than the people you're talking about. But you have to know when to use that. If I think it's going to hurt a deal.'
The US president also added that in around two weeks, it'll become clear to him whether or not Russia is 'tapping' him along. Trump warned that if he believes Russia are not sincere in their desire to end the war, a shift in Washinton's approach to Moscow is imminent.
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