The situation of the Planpincieux glacier, a large block of which threatens to collapse on an inhabited area on the Italian side of the Mont Blanc massif, was " slightly improving " on Saturday morning, the mayor of Courmayeur told AFP in this region of northwestern Italy, bordering the French Alps.
Read also: Italy: a Mont Blanc glacier threatens to break away, evacuations in progress
" We are in a phase of slight improvement, the situation is a little better ", assured Stefano Miserocchi. “However, we are not yet back to the pre-closure situation. It's a little positive, but it's not a return to normalcy ”. “ The emergency measures remain the same: evacuation of the inhabitants, and closure of the road to Val Ferret, ” said the city councilor.
A block of 500,000 cubic meters threatened to collapse
Like a huge serac, an estimated volume of ice of 500,000 cubic meters - the " size of Milan Cathedral " - threatens to collapse, according to local authorities, who ordered the evacuation for 72 hours on Wednesday evening. a " red zone " below.
In the Val d'Aosta, the small valley of Val Ferret is close to the famous resort of Courmayeur and the entrance to the Mont Blanc tunnel, a vital axis between France and Italy. The area concerned is nevertheless located at least four kilometers from the entrance to the tunnel, and even more from Courmayeur, where the situation is perfectly normal.
75 people evacuated
In total, only 75 people were evacuated, around 20 residents and the rest of vacationers, with just a handful of homes affected. The evacuation was " urgent and imperative ", justified the mayor of Courmayeur, highlighting the rise in temperatures, after a cold snap at the end of July.
“ The circulation of the water below the glacier has resumed, we have a recovery of the water under the glacier, which flows. It was this point that worried us a lot, ”he explained.
According to scientists in the region, the water trapped under the rock threatened to act like a bubble, lifting the mass of ice and risking the fall of its most fragile part.
A large fault was indeed visible on the lower part of the Planpincieux, from which two waterfalls flowed towards the valley, AFP noted during a helicopter flight over the majestic glacier.
