Death toll in Germany floods tops 143 as scramble to find survivors continues

Name: Aerial footage shows extent of deadly landslides in Germany
Uploaded: 2021-07-17T12:05:27.000Z
Duration: 1 min 19 s
Description: Aerial footage shows extent of deadly landslides in Germany

German rescuers said far more bodies were likely to be found in sodden cellars and collapsed homes

The deluge also pummelled Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, leaving streets and homes submerged in muddy water

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German soldiers use an armoured vehicle to recover cars from a submerged area in North Rhine-Westphalia. Photo: dpa

Agence France-Presse

Published: 8:05pm, 17 Jul 2021Updated: 4:24am, 18 Jul 2021

Rescuers scrambled on Saturday to find survivors and victims of the devastation wreaked by the worst floods to hit western Europe in living memory, which have already left more than 170 people dead and dozens more missing.

Western Germany has suffered the most brutal impact of the deluge that also pummelled Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, leaving streets and homes submerged in muddy water and isolating entire communities.

With the death toll in Germany at 143, three days into the disaster, rescuers said far more bodies were likely to be found in sodden cellars and collapsed homes. Around 22,000 rescuers have been mobilised.

“We have to assume we will find further victims,” said Carolin Weitzel, mayor of Erftstadt, where a landslide was triggered by the floods.

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Aerial footage shows extent of deadly landslides in Germany

In Germany’s worst-hit states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate, residents who fled the deluge were gradually returning to their homes and scenes of desolation on Saturday.