A 64-year-old man went missing when the majority of a Swiss village was swallowed after a glacier collapsed on Wednesday, May 28, authorities said
Blatten has been buried and “the damage is considerable,” the regional government said in a news release
300 residents were evacuated from the area as a precaution on May 19
A man went missing when the majority of a picturesque village in Switzerland was buried after a glacier collapsed earlier this week, authorities said.
On the afternoon of Wednesday, May 28, almost “the entire Birch Glacier, located above Blatten, collapsed, causing a gigantic landslide,” the Valais government said in a Thursday, May 29, news release.
Eerie footage showed ice, mud and debris flowing near the village, which is located in the Valais region around 55 miles south of the Swiss capital, Bern.
“At the bottom of the valley, a huge deposit of ice and rock, several dozen meters thick and approximately two kilometers long, buried most of the village of Blatten. The damage is considerable,” a translated government post said, adding that “one person is missing.”
The Cantonal Police of Valais tell PEOPLE in an email: “Despite intensive efforts, the 64-year-old man, who according to initial findings was in the affected area at the time of the incident, has not yet been found. The search is ongoing.”
According to a translated police news release, the man was reported missing around 4:35 p.m. local time on Wednesday.
The government confirmed in a statement following the glacier collapse that 300 residents had been evacuated from the village on Monday, May 19, “as a precaution.”
The BBC reported that geologists monitoring the area had warned that the glacier appeared unstable.
The regional government said in Thursday’s translated press release: “The Lonza River is blocked, and a lake is forming. The challenge lies in the behavior of this accumulation of water and the Lonza River, which could cause a torrential lava flow if the river overflows onto the deposit.”
The government said that “significant resources have been deployed to deal with this situation,” adding that the army was “preparing to deploy its resources.”
“Civil protection has also been mobilized. The population is ordered to strictly comply with the authorities’ instructions and not to travel to the affected area. The Cantonal Management Body is continuously analyzing the situation,” the government added.
“Valais will use all means at its disposal to best support the population affected by this tragic event,” officials said.
Blatten’s mayor, Matthias Bellwald, said at a press conference, according to Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen, that “we’ve lost the village, but not the heart.”
Bellwald previously said “the unimaginable has happened,” the BBC reported.
Stephane Ganzer, the head of security in the southern Valais region, told local TV channel Canal9, “What I can tell you at the moment is that about 90% of the village is covered or destroyed, so it’s a major catastrophe that has happened here in Blatten,” according to the Associated Press.
