Swiss glacier collapse buries Blatten village in mud and rock
3 Min Read
One person is missing as officials link the disaster to climate-driven permafrost melt.
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A large avalanche with a mixture of ice, rock, snow, and water reaching the valley floor is pictured in Wiler after the Birch glacier collapses above Blatten, Switzerland. May 28, 2025. (Keystone via AP)
A massive chunk of glacier broke off in the Swiss Alps on Wednesday, triggering a catastrophic deluge of ice, mud, and rock that buried the vast majority of the mountain village of Blatten in the Loetschental valley.
Authorities confirmed that one person remains missing, following an earlier evacuation of the area due to the looming threat of a rockslide.
SPEECHLESS BEFORE / AFTER #BLATTEN
— Melaine Le Roy (@subfossilguy) May 28, 2025
The magnitude of destruction after the 3:24 pm collapse of Birch Glacier is immense! 😱
All the forest has been razed and the ice/wood/debris dammed the Lonza river 🌊
Some buildings of Blatten are buried 🏠
📷 Pomona pic.twitter.com/VU2hfJtE97
Drone footage broadcast by Swiss national broadcaster SRF captured a bleak scene: a sprawling plain of mud and debris engulfing the southwestern village, submerging the river, and blanketing the wooded valley slopes.
“We’ve lost our village,” said Matthias Bellwald, mayor of Blatten, at a press conference. “The village is under rubble. We will rebuild.”
Glacier collapse buries parts of Swiss village under mud and rock
— Steve Gruber (@stevegrubershow) May 29, 2025
1.5 million cubic meter glacier section in the Swiss Alps collapsed, sending a torrent of ice, mud, and debris that buried parts of the village of Blatten.
"An unbelievable amount of material thundered down into… pic.twitter.com/3Cw6R6sM4d
Stephane Ganzer, an official from the canton of Valais, where Blatten is located, estimated that 90% of the village was now covered by the landslide.
“An unbelievable amount of material thundered down into the valley,” said local spokesperson Matthias Ebener, reiterating that one individual was still unaccounted for. No further details about the missing person were provided.
Drone footage shows widespread devastation
Since May 19, geologists had warned of an imminent collapse after identifying structural instability in the mountain above the glacier. In the weeks leading up to the disaster, millions of cubic meters of rock and soil began to loosen and fall, eventually dragging a massive portion of the ice mass with them.
Aerial footage of Blatten village in Switzerland reveals extensive devastation after a large section of the Birch Glacier broke off and crashed into the valley.
— Weather Monitor (@WeatherMonitors) May 29, 2025
Authorities had evacuated the area days in advance, but one person remains unaccounted for. https://t.co/Se5mDpHEEk pic.twitter.com/A8XKGNToQK
The entire village's roughly 300 residents were evacuated in advance.
Footage shared on social media showed the moment of partial glacier collapse as a dense cloud of debris erupted from the mountainside, racing toward the valley floor.
Among the wreckage, the shattered remains of wooden buildings were visible, scattered across the flanks of the massive debris field.
Climate change likely played a role, experts say
While multiple geological factors contributed to the collapse, experts say climate change and the melting of permafrost in the Alps likely played a significant role.
Christian Huggel, a professor of environment and climate at the University of Zurich, explained that warming temperatures have degraded local permafrost, compromising the structural integrity of mountain rock and increasing the risk of large-scale slides.
“The loss of permafrost affects mountain stability,” Huggel told Reuters, “so climate change probably contributed to this disaster.”
He noted that the extent of destruction in Blatten has no precedent in the current or previous century within the Swiss Alps.
Swiss officials warn of continued risk
Emergency services have sealed off the main road into the Loetschental valley, warning people to stay away due to hazardous conditions. Swiss President Karin Keller-Sutter expressed solidarity with the displaced residents, stating on X, “It’s terrible to lose your home.”
SRF confirmed that houses and infrastructure in Blatten were decimated by the collapse, leaving behind a muddy wasteland where a centuries-old alpine community once stood.
