Overview

• Specialists estimate nine million cubic metres of rock, ice and soil have engulfed Blatten, with the debris reaching up to 100 metres high.
• Experts calculate that roughly one-third of the material is glacial ice, raising fears that melting could destabilise the mound.
• Geologists report the debris is currently firm but warn that warming ice may trigger sudden collapses, making any cleanup too hazardous to undertake.
• The Lonza river now flows through a newly carved channel in the debris while the Ferden reservoir is kept below two-thirds capacity to prevent mudflow surges.
• Authorities have installed permanent camera monitoring across the landslide zone and continue to warn of “acute danger to life” from unstable rock and potential new landslides.