Search suspended for a missing man in Swiss glacier collapse that
destroyed 90% of an Alpine village
[May 30, 2025]
GENEVA (AP) — The search for a missing 64-year-old man was
suspended Thursday because of unsafe conditions after a huge mass of
rock and ice from a glacier crashed down a Swiss mountainside the day
before.
The landslide sent plumes of dust skyward and coated with mud nearly all
of an Alpine village that authorities had evacuated earlier this month
as a precaution. State Councilor Stéphane Ganzer told Radio Télévision
Suisse that 90% of the village was destroyed.
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An aerial view shows the destruction of Blatten, Switzerland, Thursday,
May 29, 2025, one day after a massive debris avalanche, triggered by the
collapse of the Birch Glacier, swept down to the valley floor and
demolished large parts of the village. (Jean-Christophe Bott/Keystone
via AP) |
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The Cantonal Police of Valais said that a search and rescue
operation was temporarily suspended 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 about
300 people, as well as all livestock, from the village amid
fears that the 1.5 million-cubic meter (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 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.
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