Rock and ice hinder glacier rescue efforts

SWISS authorities said on Thursday that rock and ice piles from a collapsed glacier that destroyed a village were preventing emergency services from working, but that they were cautiously optimistic no more homes were at risk.

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The Birch glacier in Switzerland's southern Valais (Wallis) region collapsed on Wednesday, sending a mass of rock, ice and scree hurtling down the mountain slope and into the valley below.

The barrage largely destroyed the most of Blatten, which had been home to 300 people and was evacuated last week due to the impending danger.

One 64-year-old man, believed to have been in the danger zone at the time, remains missing. A police spokesperson said the difficult conditions had forced the search to be called off on Thursday.

The unstable mountain face and thousands of tons of rocky debris also made it impossible for emergency workers to intervene to stabilise the zone and contain the risk of flooding in the valley below, officials said.