In Erftstadt near Cologne there was a massive landslide on Friday due to water masses. How many victims there are is currently still completely unclear.
Update from July 16, 10:05 p.m.: The situation in Erftstadt near Cologne remains dramatic after a landslide as a result of the flood: As the Kölner Stadtanzeiger reports online, the Red Cross has detected 24 cars on the flooded Luxemburger Strasse by sonar – some of them in up to ten meters deep. The rescuers could not rule out on Friday evening that there are still people in the vehicles.
After 9 p.m. the search had to be stopped for the time being because of the falling darkness. It is supposed to continue on Saturday morning. North Rhine-Westphalia’s Prime Minister Armin Laschet (CDU) and Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier also want to travel to the Rhein-Erft district, which has been badly hit by the storms on Saturday.
Erftstadt after a dramatic landslide in a “catastrophic situation” – houses and people buried within minutes
Erftstadt – A massive landslide devastated parts of Erftstadt in the south of North Rhine-Westphalia (click here for the news ticker). According to the district administrator of the Rhein-Erft district, Frank Rock, the location southwest of the Rhine metropolis of Cologne is still very confusing. As the CDU politician added to n-tv, there is still no concrete number of fatalities or missing persons.
TV pictures show the dramatic extent of the flood disaster *, numerous emergency services are on the lookout for possible victims, and auxiliary personnel from the German Armed Forces are expected to provide help with heavy technical equipment in the near future.
Erftstadt floods: landslide and flood destroy residential buildings – location confusing
On Friday morning around 50 people were rescued by boats, but people also returned to houses that had already been evacuated on their own. Later, the tide came very quickly, reports said. Sinks were under water within ten minutes and there was hardly any time to warn people.
“It’s a catastrophic situation like we’ve never had here before,” says District Administrator Rock, describing the apocalyptic events. Huge holes in the ground gape in the 50,000-inhabitant city of Erftstadt, houses have partially collapsed. The Blessem district in particular was hit by the dramatic consequences of the landslide. Large parts of the community are almost completely under water at the moment, and the power supply is severely impaired. The responsible district government in Cologne announced that several fatalities were to be expected. Germany has meanwhile triggered a major military alarm.
Floods in the Rhein-Erft district: residents were surprised by massive floods
In the village on the Erft, there was massive and rapidly progressing washings of houses. A spokeswoman for the district reported that people had been trapped in cars on flooded streets.
Aerial photographs distributed by the district government and photos by dpa photographers show landslides of enormous proportions. Cars lay in newly created huge holes in the ground next to concrete parts of the former sewer system. (PF with dpa) * Merkur.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA
List of rubric lists: © Marius Becker / dpa
