Fragments Birch glacier they collapsed on Wednesday afternoon on The village of Blatten in the canton of Valais in the south of the country.
Switzerland. An avalanche of rocks and ice covered the village
As a result of the collapse of the glacier, in a town where about 300 people live on a daily basis, Many houses were destroyed.
There were recordings on the internet on which you can see An avalanche of rocks and ice falling from above to the valleyin which the village is located.
For now, nothing is known about fatalities. One person was considered missing.
Switzerland. Experts warn: melting of glaciers will accelerate
Local media emphasize that after the warnings from experts, due to the upcoming danger, The town was evacuated a few days ago.
Representatives of the Swiss government are to appear at the scene. Local authorities have appealed to the army for aid in searching and rubbing the place of the incident.
BBC reminds that glaciologists have been warning for years that Some Alpine cities and villages can be threatened because of the melting of glaciers.
Blating It is not the first place to be evacuated.
Residents Wioski Brienz In eastern Switzerland they were evacuated two years ago, because the slope of the mountain above their city began to slide. Since then, they were allowed to return only for short periods, he reminded the BBC portal.
In 2017 nearby Bondo villages There was a landslide in the largest in over a hundred years, as a result of which eight tourists were killed and many houses were destroyed.
Specialists observing Swiss glaciers are afraid that they will disappear during the century, if they fail growth of global temperatures at a level not higher than 1.5 degrees Celsius above temperatures from before the industrial era.
Many climatologists suggest that this ceiling has already been exceeded, which means that The melting of glaciers will continue to accelerateincreasing the risk of floods and landslides.