Collapsing glacier buries mountain village in rock, mud

A immense wide of stone and crystal from a glacier has thundered down a Swiss mountainside, sending plumes of particulate skyward and coating pinch mud astir each of an Alpine colony that authorities had evacuated earlier this period arsenic a precaution.

Video connected societal media and Swiss TV showed nan mudslide adjacent Blatten connected Wednesday, successful nan confederate Lotschental valley, pinch homes and buildings partially submerged nether a wide of brownish sludge.

Regional constabulary said a 64-year-old man was reported missing, and hunt and rescue operations involving a drone pinch thermal camera were nether way.

"What I tin show you astatine nan infinitesimal is that astir 90 per cent of nan colony is covered aliases destroyed, truthful it's a awesome catastrophe that has happened present successful Blatten," Stephane Ganzer, nan caput of information successful nan confederate Valais region, told section TV transmission Canal9.

The location authorities said successful a connection that a ample chunk of nan Birch Glacier supra nan colony had surgery off, causing nan landslide which besides buried nan adjacent Lonza River bed, raising nan anticipation of dammed h2o flows.

"There's a consequence that nan business could get worse," Ganzer said, alluding to nan blocked river.

He said nan service had been mobilised aft earlier indications that nan activity of nan glacier was accelerating.

At a news conference, Swiss Environment Minister Albert Rosti lamented "an bonzer event" and said nan authorities would return steps to thief villagers who mislaid their homes.

In caller days nan authorities had ordered nan removal of astir 300 people, arsenic good arsenic each livestock, from nan colony amid fears that nan 1.5 cardinal cubic metre glacier was astatine consequence of collapse.

Local authorities were deploying by chopper and crossed nan area to measure nan damage, Jonas Jeitziner, a spokesperson for nan Lotschental situation centre, told The Associated Press.

Swiss glaciologists person many times expressed concerns astir a thaw successful caller years, attributed successful ample portion to world warming, that has accelerated nan retreat of glaciers successful Switzerland.

DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP: Stay crossed each nan latest successful breaking news, sport, authorities and nan upwind via our news app and get notifications sent consecutive to your smartphone. Available connected the Apple App Store and Google Play.