A Thurgau blue light reporter documents the catastrophe
His pictures went around the world: In the middle of the disaster, Thurgau Beat Kälin filmed the clash at Blatten
The Thurgau Beat Kälin filmed the clash, which buried the Valais village of Blaten among himself on May 28. His recordings went around the world. Although he witnessed severe fates every day through his work as a blue light reporter, this order was different.
Beat Kälin waits for days without knowing exactly what. From nine in the evening until nine in the morning, he keeps guard. Sometimes a brown hare hops past, he watches marmots and even ibex. But no human soul breaks the silence on the Weritzer Alp. Kälin’s view is firmly aimed at the small Nesthorn and the Valais village of Blatten below. The camera and drone are always ready. In the morning, his colleague Roger Lips replaces him for the daily class.
After nine days, in the early morning hours of May 28th, the situation is spoiling. Kälin observes a big demolition during his guard. When Lips comes to replace, he stays on the alp with him. Then nothing happens for a long time. It is only around three in the afternoon that a large crack forms on the right side of the glacier, which is getting bigger. Kälin informs the SRF and the crisis staff.
Kälin and Lips observed the glacier on the small Nesthorn every day from Weritzer Alp.
Kälin and Lips were embedded in the management staff structure and had access to highly sensitive areas. « A completely new situation, » says Kälin. You could have told many stories from the confidential information. But benefiting from the crisis situation was out of the question for him. « You put a lot of trust in us and we never used it. »
Films where others look away
Until the end, Kälin and Lips hoped that the glacier continues to break off in small pieces and that the disaster event remains better controllable. But on May 28th you have to capture the worst-case scenario with your cameras. The video material goes around the world. If he had filmed the clash privately, he could now be a rich man, says Kälin.
Beat Kälin reports on site in a live circuit for SRF “Switzerland Aktuell”.
After he has the drone shots in the box, Roger Lips goes into the car for safety. The panes are covered by dust.
But continuity is more important to him. BRK News does not generate its income through the sale of individual shots of events, but offers the media houses a blue light service in the subscription model. Punching and hope in the car there are dead – he cannot and does not want to reconcile with his conscience, says Kälin. With every assignment, he thinks about what it would be like if he or a person close to him was affected. «Then I go to the case differently, take other pictures. I never get into conflict with myself. »
He can only continue by demarcation
On the day of the clash, two Blattner families come to Kälin and Lips on site. You ask about the drone shots and want to see if your home is still there. A family can breathe a sigh of relief: their house was spared from the glacier mass. The other was not lucky. They break out in tears.
As often in his job, Kälin says internally: «I can’t help it. I am innocent. » It is a thought that helps him to differentiate himself from the heavy fates – every day anew.
:format(webp)/s3/static.nrc.nl/images/gn4/stripped/data132134012-36b090.jpg "Donald Trump and Xi Jinping Calling for an hour and a half, want a meeting between the two countries as soon as possible")
