Latest news with #CantonalPoliceofValais
Time of India
2 days ago
- Climate
- Time of India
Switzerland: Flood risk after landslide engulfs village
Representative Image A man remained missing on Thursday following a massive landslide that engulfed a village in southern Switzerland. The Birch glacier in Switzerland's southern Wallis region crumpled on Wednesday, with the resulting landslide of rock and ice sending plumes of dust skyward. The landslide coated nearly the entirety of an Alpine village with mud. Last week, authorities evacuated the village as a precaution. The barrage largely destroyed the hamlet of Blatten, which had been home to 300 people. State Councilor Stephane Ganzer told Radio Television Suisse that 90% of the village was destroyed. The Cantonal Police of Valais said a search and rescue operation was underway for the missing 64-year-old man, involving a drone with a thermal camera. Glaciers vulnerable to climate change Switzerland's glaciers have been severely affected by climate change. In the years 2022 and 2023, they melted just as much as they had in the decades from 1960 through 1990. Matthias Huss, head of the Glacier Monitoring in Switzerland, pointed to the likely influence of climate change in loosening the rock mass in the permafrost zone, which triggered the glacier collapse and the subsequent landslide. "Unexpected things happen at places that we have not seen for hundreds of years, most probably due to climate change," he told Reuters. Concerns rising over blocked river Authorities have declared a state of emergency as they monitor the situation of the huge pile of glacier debris, stretching 2 kilometers (1.25 miles), blocking the Lonza River. "There is a serious risk of an ice jam that could flood the valley below," Antoine Jacquod, a military security official, told the Keystone-ATS news agency. "We're going to try to assess its dimensions." With the area too unstable to be approached, authorities indicated that an assessment would be made during the late afternoon from the nearby village of Ferden. As a precaution, 16 people were evacuated late Wednesday from two villages downstream from the disaster area. An artificial dam has been emptied to receive the water pushed back by the wall of ice, earth and rubble. Were that water to overflow from the dam, authorities would need to consider evacuating the valley. "The deposit ... is not very stable, and debris flow is possible within the deposit itself [which] makes any intervention in the disaster area impossible for the time being," cantonal authorities said. They added that there is risk on both sides of the valley. Residents shocked by scale of destruction Martin Henzen, a Blatten resident, told Reuters that he was still trying to process what had occurred and did not want to speak for others in the village. "Most are calm," Henzen said, "but they're obviously affected." Henzen said residents had been making preparations for some kind of natural disaster but "not for this scenario," referring to the scale of destruction. Up to 1 million cubic meters (35 million cubic feet) of water could accumulate daily as a result of the debris damming up the river, and the buildings that emerged intact from the landslide are now flooding. Authorities have been airlifting livestock out of the area. "Right now," said Jonas Jeitziner, an official in neighboring Wiler, "the shock is so profound that one can't think about it yet."
Time of India
2 days ago
- Climate
- Time of India
Watch: Glacier collapse wipes out 90% of Swiss village with population of around 300; is climate change the trigger?
Dramatic footage of a catastrophic landslide triggered by the partial collapse of the Birch Glacier buried approximately 90 per cent of Blatten, a small Alpine village in Switzerland's Valais Canton, surfaced on the internet on Wednesday, May 28, reported BBC. The shocking visuals have left social media by storm. The viral videos show massive dust clouds filling the valley as the glacier collapsed, with a torrent of mud and boulders engulfing the hillsides and most of the village, with a population of around 300. According to the authorities, they had issued a warning earlier this month of a potential collapse for weeks due to visible cracks in the ice. The population of the village is around 300 residents, and as a warning was issued, the livestock was evacuated. However, a 64-year-old man remains missing, and no deaths have been reported so far. As per the Cantonal Police of Valais, the search and rescue operation was underway for the missing man, reports NDTV. Additionally, the Lonza Riverbed was also buried by the landslip, which raised worries about possible floods from water flows that were blocked. Shocking visuals and images surfaced on social media The catastrophic glacier collapse is a clear reminder of the Swiss Alps' startling rate of glacial loss due to climate change. In 2022, 6 per cent of Switzerland's glacier volume vanished, and in 2023, a further 4 per cent did the same, as per the glaciologists who have been monitoring the country's glaciers for years. Swiss Village of Blatten Buried by Glacier Collapse:A 1.5 million m³ glacier crushed most of the Swiss village of Blatten. Authorities had time to evacuate residents, but a 64-year-old man remains warn of further risks as the glacier debris has blocked the… Is climate change the reason behind the glacier thaw? Well, a Swiss glaciologist has attributed the accelerating glacier thaw to climate change. According to them, they also warned that it has raised the risk of such disasters. Not only the Alpine village but also the neighbouring villages have faced partial evacuations due to the current threat of flooding. The estimated 9 million metric tonnes of debris have rendered the village nearly uninhabitable. NEW: 90% of a Swiss village has been buried after a massive chunk of the Birch glacier broke off and crashed down into the is insane."We have lost our village, but not our heart. We will support each other and console each other," said the town's It will take years for it to recover now. Matthias Bellwald, the Blatten's mayor, said, "We've lost the village, but not the heart. We will support each other and console each other. After a long night, it will be morning again." While other citizens are still trying to process what actually happened. While, as per another cantonal geologist, Raphael Mayoraz, said that preparations were done for a natural disaster as they weren't aware of the scale of destruction caused by the glacier collapse. To stay updated on the stories that are going viral, follow Indiatimes Trending.
Euronews
3 days ago
- Climate
- Euronews
Search suspended for missing man after landslide buries Swiss village
The search for a missing 64-year-old man has been suspended because of unsafe conditions after a huge mass of rock and ice from a glacier crashed down a mountainside in Switzerland, burying the village of Glatten. The landslide sent plumes of dust skyward and coated with nearly all of the Alpine village with mud that authorities had evacuated earlier this month as a precaution. State Councillor Stéphane Ganzer told Radio Télévision Suisse (RTS) that 90% of the village was destroyed. The Cantonal Police of Valais said that a search and rescue operation was temporarily suspended later on Thursday afternoon because of falling debris. 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 Lötschental valley, partially submerged homes and other buildings under a mass of brownish sludge. Swiss President Karin Keller-Sutter is expected to visit the area on Friday. In recent days, authorities had ordered the evacuation of around 300 people, as well as all livestock, from the village amid fears that the 1.5 million-cubic metre glacier was at risk of collapse. Swiss glaciologists have repeatedly expressed concerns about a thaw in recent years, attributed in large part to global warming, 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. A driver who injured nearly 80 people when his car ploughed into a crowd of football fans in central Liverpool who were celebrating their team's Premier League win has been charged with intentionally causing grievous bodily harm and six other serious counts, a prosecutor has said. Paul Doyle, 53, was also charged with dangerous driving and five other counts alleging different variations of causing grievous bodily harm, Prosecutor Sarah Hammond said. Police said 79 people were injured in the attack, with at least 50 treated at hospitals. They ranged in age from nine to 78. Seven people remain in hospital in a stable condition. The charges did not indicate how many victims the counts were tied to and Hammond and Assistant Chief Constable Jenny Sims of Merseyside Police did not take questions in a brief news conference in Liverpool. "I fully understand how this incident has left us all shocked and saddened and I know many will continue to have concerns and questions," Sims said. "Our detectives are working tirelessly, with diligence and professionalism to seek the answer to all of those questions." The city had been celebrating Liverpool's record-tying 20th title when the driver turned down a street full of fans and joy quickly turned to tragedy. Police said they believed Doyle dodged a road block by tailing an ambulance responding to a report of a person in cardiac arrest. Eyewitness video showed scenes of horror as the car struck and tossed a person in the air who was draped in a Liverpool flag and then swerved into a sea of people packed on the side of the road. Merseyside Police said the driver was believed to have acted alone and they did not suspect terrorism.
Leader Live
3 days ago
- Climate
- Leader Live
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.
NDTV
3 days ago
- Climate
- NDTV
Video: Swiss Village Nearly Wiped Out After Glacier Collapse Causes Catastrophic Landslide
A catastrophic landslide triggered by the partial collapse of the Birch Glacier buried approximately 90% of Blatten, a small Alpine village in Switzerland's Valais Canton, BBC reported. Dramatic footage from May 28 shows massive dust clouds filling the valley as the glacier collapsed, with a torrent of mud and boulders engulfing the hillsides and much of the village, which had a population of around 300. Authorities had been warning of a potential collapse for weeks due to visible cracks in the ice, and earlier this month, the village of around 300 residents and livestock was evacuated. One person, a 64-year-old man, remains missing, and officials have reported no deaths so far. The Cantonal Police of Valais said that a search and rescue operation was underway for the missing man. The landslide also buried the Lonza River bed, raising concerns about potential flooding from dammed water flows. Aerial footage of Blatten in Switzerland after glacier collapse. — Disasters Daily (@DisastersAndI) May 29, 2025 Breaking: A glacier collapse has buried the Swiss village of Blatten under mud. 💔 The Lonza River is dammed and large parts of the town have been evacuated. Tragic — but thanks to early warnings from scientists, lives were likely saved. #Switzerland #Blatten #ClimateCrisis … — The Curious Quill (@PleasingRj) May 29, 2025 Swiss glaciologists attribute the accelerating glacier thaw to climate change, which has increased the risk of such disasters. The debris, estimated at 9 million metric tonnes, has left the village largely uninhabitable, with recovery expected to take years. Neighbouring villages have also faced partial evacuations due to the ongoing threat of flooding. "We've lost the village, but not the heart. We will support each other and console each other. After a long night, it will be morning again," said Matthias Bellwald, Blatten's mayor, reflecting the community's resilience amid the devastation. Martin Henzen, another Blatten resident, said he was still trying to process what had occurred and did not want to speak for others in the village, saying, "Most are calm, but they're affected." Raphael Mayoraz, a cantonal geologist, noted that while preparations had been made for a natural disaster, they weren't adequate for the scale of destruction caused by the glacier collapse. He warned of potential flooding in downstream villages due to the massive plug blocking the River Lonza's flow. Local authorities have requested support from the Swiss army's disaster relief unit, and members of the Swiss government are on their way to the scene. Officials said at a news conference on Wednesday that it would take years to recover from the damage, which they were continuing to assess. A Warning? The devastating glacier collapse is a stark reminder of the alarming rate of glacier retreat in the Swiss Alps, driven by climate change. Swiss glaciologists have reported unprecedented ice loss in recent years, with 6% of the country's glacier volume disappearing in 2022 and another 4% in 2023. Raphael Mayoraz, head of natural hazard management in Valais canton, warned that Switzerland is particularly vulnerable to glacier loss, stating, "These events are not just natural — they're warnings." This incident follows the recent discovery of five skier bodies on another Swiss glacier near Zermatt, underscoring the growing risks in alpine regions.
