The number of known fatalities as a result of the floods in southern Germany has risen to five, according to police.
A woman died Monday after her car slid off the road during flooding in the small Bavarian town of Markt Rettenbach, police said. The 57-year-old’s body was later recovered from the scene.
According to initial investigations, she was on a flooded road near Markt Rettenbach after driving past a warning tree. On the closed section, the car slid sideways off the road into a meadow, where the water was very high.
The woman called 911 on her cell phone, but by the time emergency services arrived, the car was “almost completely submerged,” police said.
Authorities had previously reported four deaths from the flooding in Bavaria and the neighboring state of Baden-Württemberg. One of the dead was a firefighter who was on his way to help people trapped by the flood.
The search for another firefighter who went missing overnight continued Tuesday.
However, police said the water current in the area near the town of Offingen where his boat capsized was so strong that the search could only be conducted by air and there was dry land.
The flood situation in Bavaria is still considered critical, while the situation in Baden-Württemberg has improved significantly.
