Unstable Swiss glacier still cause for concern

Still no break in the glacier above Blatten (VS) Keystone-SDA

An unstable glacier above the Swiss village of Blatten has stopped breaking up, but there is still no question of lifting a landslide alert.

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As on previous nights, isolated rockfalls had occurred, said the spokesman for the Lötschental regional command headquarters on Friday morning, when interviewed by the Keystone-ATS news agency.

+ How to protect people and homes from Swiss landslides

“The feeling that the night was a little quieter is based more on what we heard than on what we saw,” he added. For several days now, there have been regular rock falls.

Reconnaissance flights are planned for Friday to give experts a clearer idea of the situation in the area of the rockfall. Estimates put the total mass of unstable rock at between four and six million cubic metres.

No danger to homes

Movements on the glacier have accelerated to one and a half metres a day. However, isolated boulders are not expected to pose a problem for roads or housing.

The village of Blatten was evacuated on Monday due to the risk of rockfall. Around 300 people had to leave their homes. There have been no injuries or damage to infrastructure as yet.

Adapted from French by DeepL/mga

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