A 64-year-old man remained missing Thursday after a massive chunk of rock and ice from the Birch Glacier crashed down a Swiss mountainside Wednesday, triggering a devastating landslide, as per The AP.
The avalanche sent clouds of dust into the air and buried nearly the entire Alpine village of Blatten in mud and debris. Authorities had evacuated the village earlier this month as a precaution, but State Councilor Stéphane Ganzer told Radio Télévision Suisse that about 90% of the village was destroyed.
The Cantonal Police of Valais confirmed that a search and rescue operation is ongoing for the missing man, whose identity has not been released. The rescue team is using a drone equipped with a thermal camera to aid in the search.
Officials said the landslide was caused by a large section of the Birch Glacier breaking off, which also buried the nearby Lonza River bed. This raises concerns about potential dammed water flows in the area.
Footage shared on social media and Swiss television showed homes and buildings in the southern Lötschental valley partially submerged beneath a thick layer of brown sludge.
In recent days, authorities evacuated around 300 residents and all livestock amid fears that the glacier, measuring approximately 1.5 million cubic meters (52 million cubic feet), was at risk of collapse.
Swiss glaciologists have repeatedly warned that accelerated glacier retreat — largely driven by global warming — is causing increased instability. Switzerland, home to the largest number of glaciers in Europe, lost 4% of its total glacier volume in 2023, following a record 6% loss in 2022.
