Overview

• Experts warned the Birch glacier was unstable days before May 28, prompting the evacuation of about 300 residents and their livestock and averting major casualties.
• The collapse deposited a two-kilometre debris cone that blocked the Lonza River, creating an artificial lake with downstream flood risks.
• Reconnaissance on May 30 found the Lonza has cut a slow channel through the rubble, lowering the threat of a flood wave but leaving groundwater levels elevated.
• One 64-year-old villager remains missing since the landslide and challenging conditions have limited search efforts.
• Scientists link the glacier’s failure to permafrost thaw from rising temperatures and say the village of Blatten will be rebuilt under ongoing monitoring.