The devastating glacier collapse in Blatten: what next?

Two weeks after a massive landslide wiped out most of the mountain village of Blatten in the Swiss Alps, talk of reconstruction is picking up, but huge challenges remain. A round-up of the latest developments. On May 28, a huge landslide of mud, ice and debris engulfed the village of Blatten in the Lötschental valley in canton Valais. Ten million tonnes of rock from the crumbling Kleines Nesthorn fell onto the Birch Glacier, which caused the glacier to collapse, sending clouds of material down the mountain. Buildings that weren't buried by the landslide were submerged in a lake created when the mass dammed the small Lonza River nearby. Officials estimate that 90% of the village was destroyed. The 300 residents had been evacuated ahead of the disaster, but a 64-year-old man is still missing. Blatten municipality remains off limits due to ongoing dangers. “Blatten still has a future,” declared the mayor, Matthias Bellwald, immediately after the disaster. “We'll go back there.” Where ...