Overview

• Nearly 90% of Blatten was engulfed by the May 28 landslide after the Birch glacier collapse, but the evacuation of 300 residents averted any fatalities.
• A two-kilometer-long pile of rock, ice and mud blocked the Lonza River and formed an artificial lake that submerged what remained of the village.
• Reconnaissance flights and inspections found water now flowing over and around the debris, reducing the immediate threat of a downstream flood wave.
• Communities in the Lotschental valley and further downstream have been placed on alert, though officials report no additional evacuations are planned.
• One 64-year-old man remains missing, and experts warn that thawing permafrost tied to rising temperatures may heighten future glacier instability and landslide risks.