“I was speechless,” said Matthias Huss, a leading glacier specialist at Zurich’s Federal Institute of Technology. “It was the worst case that could happen.” Mr Huss had been aware of the situation in Blatten; he and his team check Switzerland’s glaciers all year round, and their annual reports show a clear, accelerated thaw, linked to...
The Swiss village of Blatten was partially destroyed after a huge chunk of glacier crashed down into the valley, flooding plains and destroying houses. Drone footage showed a large section of the Birch glacier collapsing at about 15:30 (14:30 BST) on Wednesday. The avalanche of mud that swept over the village of Blatten, creating an...
The Swiss village of Blatten has been partially destroyed after a huge chunk of glacier crashed down into the valley. Although the village had been evacuated some days ago because of fears the Birch glacier was disintegrating, one person has been reported missing, and many homes have been completely flattened. Local authorities describe the situation...
A Swiss mountain village has been buried in a deluge of ice, mud and rock, after a big chunk of the Birch glacier collapsed into the valley below. The village of Blatten, which was evacuated of its roughly 300 residents several days ago, was on Wednesday overwhelmed by thousands of tonnes of mud and ice....