Swiss village buried after collapse of glacier. Catastrophe can still get worse

One person is still missing after disaster reaches the region where they live from 300 people. Floods may still be coming.

Level of unprecedented destruction in the village of Blatingin the Swiss Alps, which is now 90% buried or destroyedand one of its 64 -year -old inhabitants, missing after a glacier collapsing over the region.

The incident occurred on Wednesday-nine days after the 300 village residents were evacuated due to the imminent threat of a landslide.

“The unimaginable happened,” said the mayor of Blatten, Matthias Bellwald, who ensures that the village, however, still has a future: “We lost our village, but we have not lost our hearts,” he said, thrilled.

The Birch glacier collapsed almost all over and caused a huge landslide of earth, mud, and rocks in the valaisbreak. The collapse caused a huge cloud of dust that descended through the slope of the mountain. A magnitude 3.1 earthquake was recorded following the very strong landslide.

The event was captured by images made with the help of drones:

🔴 Terrible images from Switzerland, shot this Wednesday afternoon… Millions of cubic meters of ice and rock have just destroyed the village (evacuated) of Blatten [CH]in Valais… 🇨🇭 (© Pomonamedia)

-Franc-Comtoise weather (@meteofrComToise)

According to the Swiss government, the glacier that was once covered by about nine million tons of debris constantly advancing at a speed of 2.5 to 3.3 meters per daywhich led the authorities to take preventive measures in early May, including the evacuation of people and cattle of the Lötscheal Valley.

Damage evaluations are still underway, but village recovery should now take years.

Now, “There is a risk that the situation gets worse”warns Stephane Ganzer, head of security in the southern region of Valais, quoted by. This is because there is now a greater probability of flooding due to the blockade, by debris, from the next river bed, where ice blockages can be formed.

At this time new evacuations are not yet excluded and the Swiss army will provide bombs and equipment to help control water flow and remove the rubble. Access to the village remains restricted, with closed roads for non -residents.

Just over a week ago, many people on social networks heard about the evacuation of the village due to the form of evacuation of life animation: 52 cattle, sheep and household rabbits were transported by air so as to be saved from the collapse.

🇨🇭Cows are being evacuated in Switzerland.

Near the village of Blatten, mountain slopes are in danger of collapsing, and local pastures are under threat. Rescuers are strapping each cow to a helicopter and transporting them to safety.

– Abhimanyu manjhi (@abhimanyumanjh5)

The village is at an altitude of about 1,540 meters and is characterized by a typical alpine architecture, with wooden houses, darkened by time. It is the highest inhabited point in the Lötschelm Valley.