Swiss president visits region affected by glacier collapse
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Swiss president visits region affected by glacier collapse
“You only realise it when you see it with your own eyes,” Swiss President Karin Keller-Sutter told media on Friday – about two kilometers downstream from the debris-buried village of Blatten. She was there to take stock of the situation two days after the Birch glacier collapsed, sending rock and debris into the village.
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Keller-Sutter, who holds the rotating Swiss presidency, said she traveled to the Lötschental valley in Canton Valais to get a firsthand account of the situation. But she also came to tell the residents of the region: “You are not alone. All of Switzerland stands by the Lötschental.”
>> Watch the collapse of the Birch Glacier above Blatten in southern Switzerland on May 28, 2025:
She also praised the local authorities for their foresight and the people of Lötschental for their mutual help. The federal government will provide the support promised by her colleagues in the federal government Martin Pfister and Albert Rösti.
A ‘new Blatten’ will be made.
A new Blatten is needed, Village Mayor Matthias Bellwald said today. To this end, a “New Blatten Working Group” will be established “as soon as possible.”
>>Blatten before and after the landslide: on November 3, 2024, and May 29, 2025:
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All four valley communities will be represented in it. Although the focus is on Blatten, the entire valley is affected by the current situation, Bellwald continued. The Lötschental valley without Blatten is unthinkable and vice versa.
It is a matter of rebuilding entire existences, Bellwald continued. For example, three hotel businesses in Blatten have been wiped out. Agriculture and the energy economy must also be rebuilt.
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Translated from Italian by DeepL/jdp
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