"Catastrophe of the millennium" — in the Alps, a glacier wiped out a Swiss village from the face of the earth

A glacier break in the Swiss Alps destroyed the village of Blatten. Huge masses of rocks and ice fell on the settlement from a height of more than 1000 meters, completely covering it with debris.

The village of Blatten in the Letschenthal Valley is buried under rubble. Despite the evacuation carried out earlier, the media reported one missing person. In addition, residents of the neighboring municipalities of Wheeler and Kippel also had to leave their homes, as the blocking of the Lonza River and the Gisentella stream from the debris created a real threat of flooding.

Experts speak of a "millennium catastrophe" in the Alps and warn that melting glaciers pose a threat to more Swiss cities. Matthias Ebener, a representative of the local government of the southwestern canton of Valais, said that an incredible amount of rock and ice fell into the valley. Scientists monitoring Swiss glaciers fear that they will disappear within a century if global temperatures are not kept at no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.