Male, 64, is missing after most of the Swiss village is swallowed by “gigantic landslide”

A man is missing after the majority of a picturesque village in Switzerland was buried after a glacier collapsed.

In the afternoon on Wednesday, May 28, almost “the entire birch glacier, located above the Bratt, collapsed, causing a gigantic landslide”, one May 29 press release Shared by the Valais government confirmed. Strange pictures Showed ice, clay and debris that flowed near the village, located in the Valais region about 55 miles south of the Swiss capital Bern.

“At the bottom of the valley, a huge deposit of ice and stone, several dozen meters thick and about two kilometers long, buried most of the village of Blatten. The damage is significant,” said a translated government post, leaving that “a person is missing.”

The Cantonal Police in Valais told People in an e-mail, “Despite intense efforts, the 64-year-old man, who according to the first results 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 officer press releaseThe person was reported missing around 16:35 local time on Wednesday.

The local government confirmed in a drop After the glacier collapsed that 300 inhabitants had been evacuated from the village on Monday, May 19, “as a precautionary measure.” The BBC reported that geologists who monitored the area had warned that the glacier seemed unstable.

The regional government continued in Thursday’s translated press release, the “Lonza River is blocked and a lake is formed. The challenge lies in the behavior of this accumulation of water and the Lonza River, which can cause a strong lava flow if the river abounds on the provision.”

The release stated that “significant resources have been placed to deal with this situation” and added that the army “prepared to distribute its resources.”

“Civilian protection has also been mobilized. The population is ordered to strictly monitor the authorities’ instructions and not travel to the affected area. The Canton Management Agency continuously analyzes the situation,” the release.

The government said: “Valais will use all means at its disposal to best support the population affected by this tragic event.”

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Blatten’s mayor, Matthias Bellwald, said at the press conference, Per Swiss radio and television (SRF), “We have lost the village, but not the heart.”

Bellwald had previously said that “the unthinkable has happened,” reported the BBC.

Stephane Ganzer, the security manager in the southern Valais region, told the local TV channel Canal9, “What I can tell you right now is that about 90% of the village is covered or destroyed, so it’s a major disaster that has happened here in Blatte” Associated Press.