Mud and rock bury Swiss village after glacier collapse, one person missing
A huge chunk of a glacier in the Swiss Alps broke off on Wednesday afternoon, causing a deluge of ice, mud and rock to bury part of a mountain village evacuated earlier this month due to the risk of a rockslide, authorities said.
One person is currently missing, officials said.
Drone footage broadcast by Swiss national broadcaster SRF showed a vast plain of mud and soil completely covering part of the village of Blatten, the river running through it and the wooded sides of the surrounding valley.
'An unbelievable amount of material thundered down into the valley,' said Matthias Ebener, a spokesperson for local authorities in the southwestern canton of Valais.
One person was missing, Ebener said.
The rubble of shattered wooden buildings could be seen on the flanks of the huge mass of earth in the drone footage.
Buildings and infrastructure in Blatten, whose roughly 300 inhabitants were evacuated on May 19 after geologists had identified the risk of an imminent avalanche of rock and ice from above, were hit hard by the rockslide, Ebener said.
SRF said houses were destroyed in the village nestled in the Loetschental valley in southern Switzerland.
Swiss President Karin Keller-Sutter expressed her solidarity with the local population as emergency services warned people the area was hazardous and urged them to stay away, closing off the main road into the valley.
'It's terrible to lose your home,' Keller-Sutter said on X.
Authorities have been monitoring the slopes above Blatten since ordering residents to leave their homes.
A video shared widely on social media showed the dramatic moment when the glacier partially collapsed, creating a huge cloud that covered part of the mountain as rock and debris came rumbling down into the outskirts of the village.
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Time of India
6 days ago
- Time of India
Swiss village evacuated over threat of rockslide
Swiss village evacuated over threat of rockslide(AP Photos) Swiss authorities cleared a village in the country's east over a potential rockslide, three weeks after a mudslide submerged a vacated village in the southwest. Residents of Brienz/Brinzauls, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) southwest of Davos, were being barred from entering the village because a rock mass on a plateau overhead has "accelerated so rapidly that it threatens to collapse," a statement from local officials said Monday. Farm work in the area was also being halted, and livestock owners moved their animals out of nearby pastures due to early warning signs on Sunday. Authorities said the region is closely monitored by early-warning systems in the town, which is no stranger to such evacuations: Villagers had been ordered out of Brienz/Brinzauls in November and in June two years ago - before a huge mass of rock tumbled down the mountain, narrowly missing the village. The mountain and the rocks on it have been moving since the last Ice Age. While glacier melt has affected the precariousness of the rocks over millennia, local authorities say melting glaciers due to "man-made" climate change in recent decades hasn't been a factor. The centuries-old village straddles German- and Romansch-speaking parts of the eastern Graubunden region and sits at an altitude of about 1,150 meters (about 3,800 feet). by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Here's The Average Price of a 6-Hour Gutter Guards Upgrade Read More Undo Today, it has under 100 residents. Leading Swiss insurers issued Tuesday a preliminary estimate of damages related to the submerging of the southwestern village of Blatten on May 28, putting the figure at some 320 million Swiss francs (about $393 million) - more than 80% of which was attributed to damages to buildings and movable property. The rest - about 60 million francs (about $73.8 million) - involved damage to businesses and motor vehicles.
Indian Express
10-06-2025
- Indian Express
Avalanches are no longer seasonal inconveniences. They demand urgent attention
It is often said that the mountains have a mind of their own. They increasingly seem to be sending us messages that we are either too slow or too proud to heed. The recent tragedy in Blatten, a serene Swiss village flattened by an avalanche unleashed by the Birch glacier, has stirred global concern. In a region known for meticulous monitoring and preparedness, such devastation underscores how vulnerable even the best-equipped societies are becoming to the ferocity of glacial systems under stress. We, in the Indian subcontinent, have long been acquainted with the wrath of mountains. Avalanches, ice falls, and glacial lake outbursts are not abstract threats for us — they are frequent, brutal realities. In 2016, a monstrous ice collapse at Sonam Post in Siachen buried ten Indian Army soldiers under tonnes of ice. The post sat atop what is termed the 'third pole,' where soldiers live on the edge of human endurance. The odds were always difficult. Despite superhuman rescue efforts, there was little that could be done once nature took its course. In October 2023, a lesser-known but no less alarming incident took place in Sikkim. The South Lhonak Lake burst its banks, triggering a cascade that breached a dam and swept away significant amounts of Indian Army ammunition and stores. Though the loss of human life was lower than in past events, the implications were severe for national security infrastructure. Then there is the Chamoli disaster of February 7, 2021 — a textbook case of how cascading events in the mountains can wreak havoc downstream. An icefall, most likely caused by a detaching glacier chunk, surged into the Rishiganga river, leading to a catastrophic flood. It obliterated a hydropower project and took over 200 lives. An incident that haunts military minds was at Gayari. In April 2012, 129 Pakistani soldiers were entombed under 60 feet of snow after a one-kilometre long swathe of snow struck their position in the Siachen sector. It was nature at its most merciless. In the Gurez sector of Kashmir just a month earlier, 18 Indian soldiers lost their lives when a massive avalanche hit their winter shelters on February 24, 2012. As someone who has commanded troops across multiple mountain sectors, including the Line of Control (LoC) in Kashmir, these are not distant tragedies to me. They are memories, responsibilities, and in one case — deep personal loss. In January 2008, while commanding a division headquartered in Baramulla, I faced an excruciating decision. Meteorological inputs forecasted a severe snowstorm across higher reaches of the LoC. I had nearly a dozen soldiers deployed at 14,000 feet, in a crucial post responsible for preventing terrorist infiltration. The approach route to that post was notoriously avalanche-prone. I assessed that leaving the soldiers there would be tantamount to risking their lives. I requested permission to pre-emptively evacuate them. That request was denied. The rationale? We could not afford a gap in our counter-infiltration posture. In high-altitude command, decisions must be made swiftly; moments of hesitation often make the difference between success and tragedy. My fears were realised. Once we finally initiated the evacuation — ironically, using brave civilian high-altitude porters — an avalanche struck the moving column. We recovered who and what we could. But the moment remains etched in my mind forever: The terrible clarity of knowing that this had been avoidable. This is why avalanches must not be treated merely as natural phenomena. They are increasingly conflict multipliers, logistical disruptors, and silent killers in zones of both peacetime deployment and active conflict. What climate change is now doing is making their frequency and unpredictability worse. Over the past decade, accelerated glacial melt, warmer winters, and erratic snowfall patterns have created instability across the Himalayas and Karakoram ranges. The line between snow and slush is thinner than ever. Despite this, avalanche preparedness in our region remains a challenge. The Defence Geoinformatics Research Establishment (DGRE) — earlier known as SASE — has made significant strides in avalanche forecasting, terrain analysis, and hazard zonation. Its modelling of snow accumulation patterns and vulnerability mapping has greatly helped the armed forces, especially in places like Siachen and Kargil. However, wider dissemination of this critical data and its timely integration into command-level planning still needs streamlining because it's an area relatively less understood. The challenge often remains not just scientific, but institutional — ensuring that precautionary measures are not overridden by operational compulsions. On the disaster management front, there is now some welcome movement. The Central Government has approved the National Glacial Lake Outburst Flood Risk Mitigation Project (NGRMP) with a total outlay of Rs 150 crore. Four Himalayan states — Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim, and Uttarakhand — are part of this vital effort. Of the total cost, Rs 135 crore comes from the National Disaster Mitigation Fund (NDMF), while the states contribute the remaining Rs 15 crore. The project aims to develop early warning systems, reduce vulnerability of downstream settlements, and prepare for potential GLOF (glacial lake outburst flood) events — such as the one that caused devastation in Sikkim in 2023. Just days ago, the International High-Level Conference on Glacier Conservation in Dushanbe underscored these very concerns. Leaders and experts from across Central and South Asia highlighted the deep links between glacier health, water security, climate resilience, and the livelihoods of mountain communities. Special focus was given to the unique vulnerability of high-altitude populations, where climate-induced disasters are beginning to shape patterns of migration, poverty, and socio-political stress. The conference also reinforced the role of glacier conservation in advancing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) — particularly those relating to clean water, climate action, and sustainable communities. These are not distant, abstract targets. For India, where national security and civilian life both depend on the stability of our glacial regions, they are central to our future. Yet, the most critical shift must be one of mindset. Avalanches and glacial hazards are no longer seasonal inconveniences. They are now frontline risks — endangering soldiers, civilians, and infrastructure alike. We need to enhance knowledge and awareness to bring even greater foresight and urgency. Just as we have grown to understand cyclones and heatwaves better, avalanches now demand their own urgency. Whether in Siachen, Gurez or Blatten, the message is the same: When the mountains warn us, there's hardly time to debate. The writer is a former corps commander of the Srinagar-based 15 Corps and a member of the National Disaster Management Authority. Views are personal
United News of India
07-06-2025
- United News of India
Wildfire smoke causes poor air quality in major Canadian cities
Ottawa, June 7 (UNI) Smoke from wildfires burning in northern Ontario and the Prairies of Canada caused poor air quality and reduced visibility in major cities including Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal. Environment Canada issued special air quality statements for these areas on Friday, warning that people most likely to suffer health effects from air pollution should avoid strenuous activities outdoors and seek medical attention if experiencing symptoms. Environment Canada's David Phillips said on CTV News that as wildfires ramp up across the country, air quality is deteriorating. "What we've seen this week, of course, in Ontario is a lot of that smoke from fires has come south," Phillips said. "Only a few see the flames but millions smell the smoke," he said. According to data from Swiss air quality tracker IQAir, Toronto's air quality was ranked the second worst in the world Friday afternoon. UNI XINHUA ARN
