In Switzerland, several people are missing in the canton of Ticino (southeast), after a landslide caused by torrential rains which have hit a large part of the Alpine country since Saturday, police said on Sunday.
The major storms “caused a landslide in the Fontana region (northwest of the canton) and people were reported missing,” wrote the police of the Italian-speaking canton in a press release, without providing further details.
Rescue operations are particularly difficult due to poor weather conditions, the source said.
An appeal to evacuate homes near the Maggia River was launched early Sunday morning for residents of Prato-Sornico and the Maggia Valley, where the missing are being searched for.
The roads are cut and the campsites located along the river have been evacuated, according to the cantonal police.
In addition, a bridge was washed away by the waters, blocking the cantonal road.
Several valleys near the Maggia Valley are no longer accessible and electricity has been cut off. Part of the canton is also without drinking water, according to the federal warning system Swissalert.
A large part of Switzerland has been crossed since Saturday afternoon by violent thunderstorms accompanied by very heavy precipitation.
Overflows of the Rhone and its tributaries, swollen by torrential rains and melting snow, have forced the evacuation of several hundred people and the closure of many roads, according to local authorities in Valais (southwest).
The country has already experienced violent storms and exceptional rainfall last weekend, killing at least one person and causing significant damage in the south-east of its territory.
