A 64-year-old man remains missing after a massive chunk of the Birch Glacier collapsed Wednesday, triggering a devastating rock and ice landslide that buried much of the Alpine village of Blatten in Switzerland’s southern Lötschental valley.
Authorities had preemptively evacuated the village earlier this month amid growing fears the glacier was unstable. Despite the precautionary measures, the destruction left behind is immense. State Councillor Stéphane Ganzer told Radio Télévision Suisse that 90% of the village has been destroyed.
“An unbelievable amount of material thundered down into the valley,” said Matthias Ebener, a spokesperson for local authorities, as quoted by Reuters.
Blatten’s mayor, Matthias Bellwald, confirmed the village’s near-total devastation. “We’ve lost our village,” he told reporters. “The village is under rubble. We will rebuild.”
The Cantonal Police of Valais confirmed that a search and rescue mission is ongoing for the missing man, whose identity has not been released. The effort includes drones equipped with thermal cameras.
The landslide occurred after a massive portion of the Birch Glacier broke off, unleashing an avalanche of rock, ice, and mud that partially buried homes and filled the Lonza River bed, raising concerns of dammed water and potential flooding.
Footage posted to social media and broadcast on Swiss television captured the sheer force of the disaster: plumes of dust shot into the sky as brown sludge surged through the village, swallowing buildings in its path.
In the days leading up to the collapse, around 300 people and all livestock had been evacuated due to increasing warnings from Swiss glaciologists about the glacier’s instability. Scientists had estimated the looming mass of ice at approximately 52 million cubic feet.
Experts say the collapse is part of a larger, alarming trend driven by climate change. Switzerland, home to more glaciers than any other European country, saw 4% of its total glacier volume disappear in 2023 alone, the second-largest annual loss on record following a 6% drop in 2022.
Glaciologists have long warned that warming temperatures are accelerating the retreat and destabilisation of glaciers across the Alps.
The Swiss government and local officials have pledged support for Blatten’s residents and have begun assessing plans for rebuilding the devastated community once the situation stabilises.
