Blatten, Switzerland : A massive glacier collapse in the Swiss Alps unleashed a torrent of ice, mud, and rock that buried nearly the entire mountain village of Blatten, leaving one man missing and prompting large-scale emergency operations.
Authorities confirmed that a 64-year-old local resident is unaccounted for following the collapse. Despite an extensive search involving thermal drones and airlifted rescue personnel, the man has not yet been found.
Drone footage aired by Swiss national broadcaster SRF showed the southwestern village engulfed in mud and debris, with the river and forested valley sides overwhelmed by the destruction.
“We’ve lost our village,” said Blatten’s mayor, Matthias Bellwald, in an emotional press conference.
“The village is under rubble. We will rebuild.”
Officials from the canton of Valais, where Blatten is located, reported that around 90% of the village was covered by the landslide, triggered by a collapse of three million cubic metres of glacial material.
“The worst-case scenario has occurred,” said Raphael Mayoraz, head of the canton’s Natural Hazards Service.
“This is a very rare event. Most of the glacier has now fallen.”
The village’s 300 residents had been evacuated on May 19 after experts detected a high risk of a rock and ice avalanche from the unstable mountainside above.
A viral video captured the moment the glacier broke apart, creating a massive dust cloud and a deafening roar as it plunged into the valley.
Climate scientists highlighted the potential link to global warming. Prof. Christian Huggel, a climate expert at the University of Zurich, noted that the melting of Alpine permafrost likely contributed to the slope’s instability.
“While multiple factors are involved, permafrost loss due to warming temperatures likely played a key role,” Huggel explained.
“This scale of destruction is unprecedented in modern Swiss Alpine history.”
The devastation included shattered wooden homes and ruined infrastructure, visible in drone imagery scattered across the landscape. SRF reported widespread destruction to the village nestled in the Loetschental valley in southern Switzerland.
Swiss President Karin Keller-Sutter extended her sympathy via social media:
“It’s terrible to lose your home,” she wrote, expressing solidarity with the local population.
Authorities have closed the main road into the hazardous area and continue to urge the public to stay away as the risk remains high.
