One person is missing after a chunk of a glacier careened down a mountainside in Switzerland on Wednesday.
The village of Blatten in the Lötschental valley took the brunt of the mudslide. However, residents had already evacuated the area prior to the disaster, the Associated Press (AP) reported. Law enforcement said search and rescue crews are searching for the sole missing person, a 64-year-old man.
Officials said nearly the entire Birch Glacier had collapsed, and “At the bottom of the valley, a huge deposit of ice and rock, several dozen meters thick and approximately two kilometers long, buried most of the village of Blatten. The damage is considerable,” according to People.
Video footage shows the moments the piece of the glacier thundered down the mountainside onto the village below:
According to the AP, the mudslide also buried the Lonza riverbed which is near the site.
“At a news conference, Swiss Environment Minister Albert Rösti lamented ‘an extraordinary event’ and said the government would take steps to help villagers who lost their homes,” the outlet noted.
“In recent days the authorities had ordered the evacuation of about 300 people, as well as all livestock, from the village amid fears that the 1.5 million cubic meter (52 million cubic feet) glacier was at risk of collapse,” it added.
The leader of security in the southern Valais region, Stephane Ganzer, explained that approximately 90 percent of the village was covered or destroyed during the incident, deeming it a “major catastrophe,” per Euro News.
The People article noted that geologists had expressed concern and gave warnings that the glacier was potentially unstable.
Government officials said significant resources were being used to help with the situation and the army was joining the effort.
Meanwhile, locals have said they will rebuild their village, per 9 News Australia:
In a statement to residents, Blatten Mayor Matthias Bellwald said, “The unimaginable has happened today. We have practically lost the village. The village we see. I am glad that we can evacuate everyone from Blatten outside and bring them to safety. This gives us the strength to do what lies ahead. We have lost the village but not the heart.”
Read the full article here