Video a glacier crashed into the Swiss Alps and buried a village, under an avalanche of ice, mud and stones / a missing person / dramatic moments, surprised in pictures

The village of Rugten, with 300 inhabitants, had been evacuated early, due to the anticipated risk by the authorities. A person is still missing today, officials quoted by Reuters said.

A huge piece of the Birch glacier, from the Swiss Alps, broke off on Wednesday, causing an avalanche of ice, mud and stones that buried most of a mountain village.

The images filmed with the drone broadcast by the Swiss national television station SRF showed a vast surface of mud and land that completely covered the South-West of the country, the river that crosses it and the forested slopes of the surrounding valley.

“We lost our village,” said Matthias Bellwald, the mayor of Blatten, at a press conference after slipping.

“The village is under the rubble. We will rebuild,” he said.

🔴 EFFROYABLES IMAGES DEPUIS in Suisse, Tournées what mercredi après-Midi… des Miètres cubes de Glace et de roche Viennent de Détruire Le Village (Évacué) by Rugten [CH]dance le Valais… 🇨🇭 (© Pomonamedia) pic.twitter.com/bcxh7ywv5t

-Météo Franc-Constoise (@meteofcomtoise) May 28, 2025

Stephane Ganzer, an official from the Valais canton, where Blatten is, told the Swiss press that about 90% of the village was covered by landslide.

“An incredible amount of material has stuck in the valley,” said Matthias Ebener, a spokesman for local authorities.

A person was missing, Ebener said. During the press conference, officials did not provide other details on this person.

What was the cause of the collapse

Officials said millions of cubic meters of rock and soil had collapsed since the Greatten was evacuated for the first time this month, when part of the mountain behind the glacier began to collapse.

🔴 en 40 seacons, li village of #Blatten [CH] dance le valois #Suisse A disappear sous des milloss of tonnes de gace et de roche what mercredi après-midi… levant/après est effroyable! 😢 (📸 © srf ch) pic.twitter.com/3ddvnr3pdt

-Météo Franc-Constoise (@meteofcomtoise) May 28, 2025

A video published on social networks showed the dramatic moment when the glacier collapsed partially, creating a huge cloud that covered part of the mountain, while rocks and scraps descended into the waterfall to the village.

Taking into account the role played by the slope collapse, the experts consulted by Reuters said that it is difficult to evaluate the extent to which the increase of the temperatures caused by the climatic changes has triggered the sliding of the glacier.

Christian Huggel, a professor of environment and climate at the University of Zurich, said that, although various factors were involved in the Courte, it is known that the local permafrost was affected by the higher temperatures in the Alps.

The reduction of permafrost can adversely affect the stability of the mountain rocks, which is why climate change has probably played an avalanche role, Huggel said.

An unprecedented phenomenon in the Swiss Alps in recent centuries

The extent of the damages in the Blatten did not have precedent in the Swiss Alps in the present century or in the previous century, he added.

🔴 Toujours à #Blatten [CH] en #Suisse de très Grandes Quantités d'Eau s'Accumulet derrère les millions by mètres of “roche” ⚠️ les villages en contrabas craignent a raz-de-marée imminent… (via © pomona) pic.twitter.com/hlekvuf62k

-Météo Franc-Constoise (@meteofcomtoise) May 28, 2025

The buildings and infrastructure in Blatten, whose about 300 inhabitants were evacuated on May 19, after geologists identified the risk of an imminent avalanche, were hit by the landscape, officials said.

Swiss President Karin Keller-Sutter has expressed solidarity with the local population, while emergency services warned people that the area is dangerous and urged them to stay away, closing the main road to the valley.

“It is horrible to lose your house,” Keller-Sutter said on X.