29-05-2025
Swiss mountain valley faces flood wave following glacier collapse
dpa
Geneva
A second disaster now looms in a Swiss Alpine region after a glacier above the village of Blatten broke off a day earlier, local authorities said on Thursday. A natural dam - formed by rubble, rocks and ice - has blocked the flow of the Lonza river, causing water to accumulate dangerously behind it.
Authorities warn that a sudden breach could unleash a devastating flood or debris avalanche downstream. Most of the evacuated settlement in south-western Switzerland has been buried by the massive amounts of debris that came down with the glacier on Wednesday.
But the Lötschental valley, where Blatten is located, now faces the threat of a flood wave. The few houses in Blatten that were not buried by the glacier collapse are already flooded, according to the authorities.
In light of the risk, authorities have ordered the evacuation of several houses in nearby settlements as a precaution.
'People have lost everything' Blatten's 300 residents were told to evacuate at short notice last week. A 64-year-old man, who remained in the area despite the order, remains missing. Though early rockfalls had spared the village, many locals hoped this would be another near miss - like similar events in other Alpine regions. This time, however, the worst-case scenario became reality.
Beat Rieder, a member of parliament from the neighbouring settlement of Wiler, spoke of a catastrophe of the century on Swiss television.
'It's an event that the valley has never experienced since history began,' he said.
