At least 4 dead and 1 missing after floods in southern Switzerland

CNN
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At least four people have died and another is missing due to flooding in southern Switzerland this weekend, according to local police and Swiss state media.

Three people were killed in a landslide in the Maggia Valley, Swiss public broadcaster SRF reported.

Police in the Swiss canton of Valais said another man was found dead in a hotel in Saas-Grund, adding that initial findings suggest he may have been surprised by the rapidly rising waters.

Searches are also underway to find a 52-year-old man, missing since Saturday evening in the village of Binn, the Valais cantonal police added in a press release on Sunday. The Public Prosecutor's Office has opened an investigation into the case of the missing man in Binn and the man found dead in Saas-Grund, police said.

The flooding is the result of rapidly rising water levels in several rivers, including the Rhone, caused by storms and melting snow, police said in a statement Sunday. The flooding also caused debris flows and numerous road closures, police added.

The Rhône overflowed in several places, causing the evacuation of hundreds of people in the canton of Valais, according to a press release from the local government on Sunday, which specifies that “significant damage” was also reported in the valleys near the Rhône in the Upper Valais. .

Following the floods, the canton of Valais said it had called on the army to provide support.

In France, the Haute-Saône department, close to the border with Switzerland, was also hit by strong storms overnight. “Last night, Haute-Saône was hit by violent thunderstorms with intense precipitation and strong gusts of wind,” the local government said in a message on X.