BERLIN (AP) — Storms in Switzerland and northern Italy have caused major flooding and landslides, killing at least four people, authorities said Sunday.
The bodies of three people were recovered after a landslide in the Fontana area of the Maggia Valley in the Italian-speaking canton of Ticino (state) on the southern side of the Alps. Storms and heavy rain lashed southern and western Switzerland on Saturday and overnight.
Campsites along the Maggia River were evacuated and part of the small Visletto road bridge collapsed. One person was reported missing in the nearby Lavizzara Valley.
Further north, the Rhône river burst its banks at several places in the canton of Valais, flooding a highway and a railway line.
Police said side valleys south of the Rhône had received particularly heavy rain, and the body of a man whose partner had reported him missing was found early Sunday at a hotel in the Alpine resort of Saas-Grund. They said he was probably caught by surprise by floodwaters.
Another man has been missing since Saturday evening in the Binn area, in the upper Rhone Valley near the Italian border, police said.
Floods, thunderstorms and landslides also affected several regions in northern Italy. Firefighters said they carried out about 80 rescue operations and evacuated dozens of people in the northern Piedmont region.
Between Montanaro and San Benigno Canavese, two adults and a 3-month-old girl were rescued after rising waters of the Orco stream left them trapped in their car, fire officials said. Several villages were isolated by flooding streams, storms and landslides in the Valle D’Aosta region.
