As experts explained, around 500,000 cubic meters of ice could plunge into the valley – this roughly corresponds to the content of 200 Olympic-sized swimming pools.
The danger will only exist for a few days, said technicians from the ANSA news agency. The ice had started moving because of the large temperature differences in the past few days.
Valley road closed
The Planpincieux glacier below Mont Blanc, the highest mountain in the Alps and border summit between Italy and France, threatened a good dozen locals and around 50 tourists. These were therefore brought to safety by Carabinieri and other emergency services. The road into the small valley was temporarily blocked.
It is completely normal for a glacier to move, said a geologist in charge of the newspaper "La Stampa". Because this movement has now accelerated, precautions had to be taken. This section of the glacier had already raised the alarm in September 2019 – at that time, however, only 250,000 cubic meters threatened to break off.