Swiss Glacier Collapses, Destroying 90% of Alpine Village

Slowly the Lonza begins to make its way through the rubble in the Lötschental. The extent of the catastrophe is incomprehensible: the history of Blatten is as if it were wiped away, says the municipal president.

In Switzerland, the accumulated water begins to flow slowly after the glacial collapse. Thus, it is unlikely that a ripping stream or even a tidal wave will rush through the Lötschental. The inhabitants of some municipalities still sit on packed suitcases. Meanwhile, there is almost nothing left of the village of Blatten.

After the collapse of the glacier in Switzerland, the situation is getting worse behind the huge gravel dump. "People have lost everything except what they wore on their body," says municipal president Matthias Bellwald at the press conference in Blatten.

ANALYSIS. An entire village buried in just minutes after a glacier collapsed in Switzerland. But is the cause the ongoing climate change? Scientists are not entirely sure.

Glacier flattens Swiss village Blatten and threatens more floods

Millions of cubic meters of ice, mud and rock crashed down a mountain on Wednesday onto Blatten, and the few houses that remained later flooded

After the glacial collapse in Switzerland, those responsible have to watch as the level of the Lonza River continues to rise. All developments in the news blog.