Geneva – A 64-year-old man was still missing Thursday as a large number of rocks and ice on the glacier crashed on the Swiss mountainside the day before.
The landslide emits dust into the sky and nearly all alpine villages evacuated earlier this month were covered with dirt for precautions. State Councilor Stéphane Ganzer told Swiss Radio that 90% of the village was destroyed.
“Incredible material was sensational into the valley,” Reuters reported.
Pomona Media/Handout via Reuters
“We lost the village,” Reuters said. “The village is in the rubble. We will rebuild it.”
Keystone-SDA through Reuters 
Valais’ state police said a search and rescue operation is being carried out for missing persons whose name is not published, and it involves a drone with a thermal camera.
The district government said in a statement that most of the birch glaciers above the village had broken down, causing a landslide that also buried nearby Lonza riverbeds, increasing the likelihood of water flow.
Social media and videos on Swiss TV show Blatten’s mudslides in the southern Lötschental Valley, with mudslides below partially submerged houses and other buildings.
In recent days, authorities have ordered the evacuation of about 300 people and all livestock from the villages, fearing that the 52 million cubic feet of glaciers could collapse.
Swiss glacologists have repeatedly expressed concerns about melting in recent years – largely attributed to global warming – Accelerated the retreat of Swiss glaciers.
The inland alpine countries have the most glaciers in any country in Europe, with 4% of their total glaciers disappearing in 2023. This is the second largest drop in the year with a 6% decline in 2022.
