Village partially destroyed in Swiss glacier collapse / Photo: Fabrice COFFRINI - AFP/File
-
Colombia declares three days mourning for quake victims
-
Warholm on track in bid for fourth Euro hurdles gold
-
44 lives lost after ferry capsizes on Zimbabwe's Lake Kariba
-
Erdogan eyes expansion of regional defence pact
-
WallStreetPR Releases Report on China’s Gold Purchases and African Mining Investment
-
Extreme weather, jellyfish knock one-fifth of France's nuclear capacity offline
-
Former Chinese premier Zhu Rongji dies aged 97
-
Skywatchers gather in Europe to see total solar eclipse
-
Markets steady awaiting US inflation data
-
Zhu Rongji, trailblazing ex-premier who transformed China's economy
-
WHO says Trump vaccine shake-up goes against evidence
-
China tech giant Tencent's Q2 profit down as AI push builds
-
Eclipse chasers flock to Spain for 'breathtaking' experience
-
China's C919 jet makes first international commercial flight
-
'To make the civilians leave': Russia pummels Ukraine's petrol stations
-
Mideast war impact on travel bookings fading, TUI says
-
Japan brushes off Australian PM's melon drama
-
Bangladesh get Das fitness boost for daunting Australia task
-
Rod Stewart cancels tour dates after heart surgery
-
One dead, 172 rescued as second ferry in days catches fire in Indonesia
-
How Britain's mapmakers track climate change
-
Foxconn posts quarterly profit surge on AI server demand
-
Australian delivery drivers win 'world-leading' pay rise
-
Hazlewood gets Australia nod ahead of Boland for Bangladesh Test
-
Meta meets its own 'tobacco' moment in court
-
Toyota ex-chief Okuda, pioneer of the Prius, dead at 93
-
Art or medicine? Japan's cosmetic tattoo artists in limbo
-
Colombia rescuers find woman alive as quake death toll passes 200
-
Rybakina ousts Osaka to book Toronto semi-final against Gauff
-
New Zealand PM survives leadership challenge months from election
-
Colombia rescuers find woman alive as quake death toll passes 240
-
Passengers rescued as second ferry in days catches fire in Indonesia
-
Charges dropped against Bondi Beach attack hero
-
Oil prices rise, stocks mixed ahead of crucial US inflation data
-
Parched and desperate for rain, Kazakhstan turns to cloud-seeding
-
UK 'joke' candidate Binface pushes serious point about politics
-
The perfect storm that turbocharged Venezuela's twin quakes
-
New Zealand PM Luxon survives leadership challenge months from election
-
2.4 million girls banned from Afghan schools since Taliban return: UNESCO
-
Cuba celebrates Castro's 100th as his revolution faces its toughest test
-
Colombians dig through rubble as quake death toll surpasses 240
-
Defending champion Shelton rolls into Montreal semis
-
New Zealand's ruling party meets to decide PM Luxon's fate
-
What to know about the total solar eclipse
-
Total solar eclipse to spellbind Europe
-
Tentoglou claims fourth Euro long jump title, injured Jacobs falters
-
Jodar, Nakashima to make Masters semis debuts in Montreal
-
All Blacks knew Nonu would perform solo Haka - coach Rennie
-
Chilean veteran Sanchez signs with MLS club Montreal
-
Britain's Glave upstages Jacobs to win European 100m gold
Village partially destroyed in Swiss glacier collapse
A massive glacier collapse on Wednesday in southern Switzerland partially destroyed the small village of Blatten, which had been completely evacuated last week due to the impending danger, officials said.
Around 3:30 pm (1330 GMT), a huge collapse occurred on the Birch Glacier, emergency services in the Wallis region said.
Many homes in Blatten, normally home to 300 people, were destroyed, Jonas Jeitziner, deputy information officer for the regional emergency management service, told Switzerland's Keystone-ATS domestic news agency.
The glacier collapse had been expected for several days.
Footage posted on YouTube showed a huge cloud of ice and rubble hurtling down the mountain slope and into the valley where the village is located. The debris reached the houses.
A significant increase in activity was observed on the glacier from Tuesday night and intensified during Wednesday.
The Alps mountain range in Europe has seen its glaciers retreat in recent years due to warming that most scientists attribute to climate change.
Swiss glaciers, severely impacted by climate change, melted as much in 2022 and 2023 as between 1960 and 1990, losing in total about 10 percent of their volume.
The amount of snow covering Switzerland's glaciers at the end of winter this year was 13 percent below the 2010-2020 average, a group of glacier monitoring experts said earlier in May.
J.Saleh--SF-PST
