After a glacier cancellation in Switzerland, a tidal wave threatens – Diepresse.com

An enormous glacier root has a village in Switzerland. The search for a missing person was discontinued. Now the next disaster threatens.

« />

Meter -high wet layer

According to the civil protection spokesman Antoine Jacquod, there is « a great risk of flooding the valley downstream ». Due to the still dangerous situation, clearing work in the clipper area is currently not possible: « When we can intervene specifically, it is currently still unclear. » According to the authorities, a reservoir was emptied as a precaution in order to create space for the water in the event of flooding. The Swiss army is available for further emergency measures and provides auxiliary materials.

On drone pictures, the village of Blatten, buried almost completely under a meter -high layer of rubbers can hardly be seen. « A valley cries, » wrote the online platform of the local media house Pomona.

Search for missing discontinued

However, the search for a man missing since the end of the glacier was temporarily hired. The site was too dangerous for a further use of the search troop, the Valais cantonal police said. On Thursday morning, it was intensively searched for the man missing in the Tennmatten area, it said. But it was not found.

A mountain rescuer from the cantonal Valais rescue organization and a team of five with three dogs from the partner organization Redog had been flown to the affected area for the search. The search on the rubble cone for information on the missing person was also unsuccessful.

The security situation in the affected area is constantly being re -judged, the police announced. The Valais public prosecutor officially initiated an investigation.

Worry about a break

« The worst would be that water builds up to the crown of the mountain climber dam, » said geologist Flavio Anselmetti from the University of Bern to the Swiss radio station SRF to the current level of things. The river could then cut into the rock-ice mixture, become unstable and break: « Then very strong tidal waves or mischief could threaten from this outbreak of lake for the municipalities that lie in the lower valley. » The army is already mobilized. The location is assessed every hour with drones and helicopter overfills.

Inhabitants in shock

The around 300 inhabitants of the village of Blatten have lost everything. 90 percent of the village, around 130 houses and the church, are buried under a layer of rubbers. She was between 50 and 200 meters thick, said natural chief Raphaël Mayoraz at a media conference. The cone is two kilometers long and around 200 meters wide. According to estimates, a total of three million cubic meters of rock, rubble and ice of the pirch glacier thundered into the valley.

According to the authorities, the few remaining houses are now flooded by the growing water congestion of the Lonza. Blatten is the last village in the 27 -kilometer Lötschental. It is around 1,500 meters.

The Swiss surveillance of the mountains had already caused warnings in mid -May that a landslide threatened above the village. When the crevices in the rock grew quickly, the call came quite suddenly on May 19 to leave the village within an hour. Many people soon packed up the bare essentials and left the village.

Subsequently, the rock and Brocken thundered into the valley for days, but none of it reached Blatten. During the evacuation, many made it clear that they appreciated the precautionary measures, but still calculated that the village could get away lightly – as with similar locations in other mountain regions.

The worst scenario has arrived

In the Lötschental, however, the worst conceivable scenario became reality. MP Beat Rieder from neighboring Weiler Wiler spoke on television of a century disaster. « It is an event that the valley has never experienced since the beginning of the historiography, » he said on Swiss television. « People have lost everything you built your whole life, » he said. « You look at the screen and can’t do anything, that’s a heavy shock. »

Since the ice and scree avalanches thundered into the valley on Wednesday afternoon with gigantic roar and a cloud of dust like after an explosion and buried leaves, the residents have been shielded and looked after. City council members are stunned before the press. A 64-year-old local was in the danger area despite evacuation on Wednesday and is still missing.

The Lötschental was considered a holiday paradise, in summer with hiking and climbing routes as well as mountain lakes and much untouched nature and with a view of 40 four thousand peaks, in winter with kilometers-long ski slopes. It was difficult to reach until the opening of the Lötschberg tunnel in 1913 and the construction of a street in the 1950s.

Financial instant aid for those affected

Several aid agencies reacted to those affected on Thursday with financial commitments for immediate aid. Caritas Switzerland and the Swiss Red Cross (SRK) made the equivalent of 430,000 euros available for uncovered damage. The sponsorship for mountain communities wants to help in Blatten with more than a million euros.

The Lötschtaltaler affected by the natural disaster received numerous solidarity scouts. « In view of this tragedy, the members of the Bishops ‘Conference express their solidarity with all those affected and pray for them, » wrote, for example, the Swiss Bishops’ Conference. FC Sion also assured support, as he wrote on the X platform. « I stah Zamu with Oich, » it said in the message. National Council President Maja Riniker showed, according to a short message of the parliamentary services on X, deeply affected by the events in Blatten: « Her thoughts are among those affected. She thanks the rescue workers for her tireless efforts. » Petros Mavromicanis, EU ambassador in Switzerland, wrote on X: « In these difficult hours, my thoughts are among the Valaisers who are affected by the catastrophe in Blatten. I wish you and the emergency services that are currently on site. »

(APA/SDA/AFP/Reuters/dpa)