Situation in Swiss landslide valley remains unstable
Select your language
Generated with artificial intelligence.
Listening:
Situation in Swiss landslide valley remains unstable
Authorities in canton Valais said on Thursday that it was still too dangerous to undertake any clear-up measures in the area around the village of Blatten.
+Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox
A risk of mudslides remains on both sides of the Lötschental valley, cantonal authorities said on Thursday around midday. The situation on the Kleiner Nesthorn, the mountain where the landslide began on Wednesday, is also still unstable. Several hundred thousand cubic metres of rock are affected.
Debris flows could also occur due to the masses of rock, ice and water now lying in the valley. The material is unstable.
On Wednesday virtually the entire Birch Glacier above the village of Blatten collapsed, leading to a debris deposit on the valley floor which is several dozen metres thick and two kilometres long.
>> Watch the collapse of the Birch Glacier above Blatten in southern Switzerland on May 28, 2025:
Most of the village was buried and debris is now blocking the Lonza river, which has caused a lake to form, which has in turn flooded houses that were spared during the landslide.
More
Why do Swiss mountains collapse? It’s complicated
According to authorities, the main danger now depends on the river and the built-up water in the lake; if water runs over the debris deposit, fresh landslides could occur.
Emergency services are on site. The Swiss army is getting an initial picture of the situation and is ready to call on additional resources. Civil protection teams have also been deployed.
>>Blatten before and after the landslide: on November 3, 2024, and May 29, 2025:
External Content
Support tools – pumps, clearing vehicles, debris removal and lighting masts – have been requested by the cantonal command centre in Valais. Army help has been requested to transport the equipment by air. Specialist engineering firms were also called in.
Meanwhile the road from Goppenstein in the direction of Blatten remains closed. Only local residents and emergency vehicles are allowed to pass. The canton of Valais will do everything in its power to support the affected population as much as possible, it said on Thursday.
What is your opinion? Join the debate:
External Content
Translated from German by DeepL/dos
We select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools to translate them into English. A journalist then reviews the translation for clarity and accuracy before publication.
Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles. The news stories we select have been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team from news agencies such as Bloomberg or Keystone.
If you have any questions about how we work, write to us at english@swissinfo.ch
More
Flat-hunting in Switzerland’s cheapest and most expensive municipalities
More
The Russia affair in the Swiss secret service: ‘This is espionage’
More
Is Switzerland repeating England’s housing mistakes?
More
What a love of cat ladders says about the Swiss
More
Swiss food labels must declare animal suffering from July
In compliance with the JTI standards
More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.