1 person found dead and 2 still missing after floods, rockslide hit a Swiss Alpine village
Am aerial view showing the site of a landslide, caused by severe weather and heavy rain in the Misox valley, in Sorte village, Lostallo, southern Switzerland on Sunday June 23, 2024. Authorities in Switzerland say rescuers have found the body of one of three people who had gone missing on Saturday after massive thunderstorms and rainfall in the southeast of the county caused a rockslide. Credit: AP/Michael Buholzer
VIENNA — Rescuers in Switzerland have found the body of one of three people a day after they were swept away in a rockslide that hit their Alpine village following massive thunderstorms and rainfall, authorities said Sunday. The other two are still missing.
One woman was pulled out alive from the rubble earlier on Saturday morning.
“Today is a sad day,” said Ignazio Cassis, member of the Swiss Federal Council, who addressed reporters Sunday after traveling to the region to show solidarity with the victims on behalf of the Federal Government.
The man's body was found in a nearby river, authorities said.
A team of 200 rescuers has been searching for the missing since Saturday with excavators, specially-trained search dogs, drones and army helicopters. But the likelihood of finding them alive is low, William Kloter from the Swiss police, who is heading the rescue operations, told reporters Sunday.
Search operations had to be halted during the night due to heavy rain.
The rockslide hit a group of three houses in the municipality of Lostallo in the Alpine valley of Misox in Graubünden.
The highway A13 between Lostallo and Soazza is seen destroyed by the force of the Moesa river, caused by heavy rain in the Misox valley, in Lostallo, southern Switzerland, Sunday, June 23, 2024. Massive thunderstorms and rainfall led to a flooding situation on Friday evening after a landslide in the Misox valley. Four people went missing on Saturday morning. Several dozen people had to be evacuated from their homes in the Misox and Calanca regions. Credit: AP/MICHAEL BUHOLZER
Swiss authorities also said that a segment of the A13 motorway leading to Italy had been completely submerged and destroyed by flooding. The major transit route between the key San Bernardino Pass and Roveredo in Graubünden will likely remain closed for several months.
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