Glacier poses flood risk to local valley

Water trapped behind a mass of glacial debris that this week buried a village and blocked a river in southern Switzerland has sparked warnings that further evacuations may be needed amid the risk of flooding in the Alpine valley.

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A deluge of millions of cubic metres of ice, mud and rock crashed down a mountain on Wednesday, engulfing the village of Blatten, and the few houses that remained later flooded. Its 300 residents had been evacuated earlier in May after part of the mountain behind the Birch Glacier began to crumble.