Death toll in the Maggia Valley rises to five
Published: Wednesday, Jul 3rd 2024, 14:50
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After the severe storms at the weekend, rescue workers in the Maggia Valley have recovered a fifth fatality. Meanwhile, the extent of the damage is becoming apparent during the clean-up operations in Ticino and Valais.
The dead person was discovered in the gravel bed of the Maggia near the village of Riveo, the Ticino cantonal police announced on Wednesday. Members of the cantonal police and Swiss Alpine Rescue as well as Alpine Rescue dog units were involved in the search operation.
The identification of the dead person was still underway on Wednesday. A helicopter reportedly recovered her remains from the riverbed.
This brought the number of fatalities in Ticino to five. On Tuesday, an army helicopter had already located a fatality in the bed of the Maggia river, also near Riveo. Three female tourists from Germany were also victims of a landslide at the weekend in the hamlet of Fontana in the Bavona Valley, a side valley of the upper Maggia Valley.
Up to 100 million francs in damage
In total, at least six people lost their lives in the storms last weekend. In Saas-Grund in Valais, a man died when he was caught in floodwater in the basement of a hotel. A search is also underway in Valais for a 52-year-old man who is missing in the Binntal valley.
The damage in Saas-Grund alone amounts to fifty to one hundred million francs, according to an estimate by the mayor Bruno Ruppen.
They mainly affect buildings and the road infrastructure, as Ruppen told the Keystone-SDA news agency. The drinking water network and sewage system are not affected. Around eighty percent of the municipality has access to the electricity grid.
"Ten thousand full trucks"
Late on Saturday evening, the Triftbach stream burst its banks and piled up around one hundred thousand cubic meters of rubble in the village within a few minutes. According to Ruppen, that's the equivalent of ten thousand full trucks.
"We have already cleared away thousands of cubic meters, pumped the water out of the houses and cellars. We've made good progress, but we're far from finished. It will still take months," said Ruppen.
Around a hundred helpers have been cleaning up in Saas-Grund since Sunday. Since Wednesday, members of the army have also been working there with heavy equipment.
Army also helps in Goms
A total of almost 100 members of the army are providing disaster relief in Valais. Around 30 of them are busy clearing debris from roads in Saas-Grund, said the army's head of operations, Lieutenant-Colonel Jean-Claude Gagliardi, to the Keystone-SDA news agency.
According to Gagliardi, the army is also active in Goms and in the area around Sierre. In Goms, the main task is to clear watercourses of accumulated debris in order to prevent further flooding, explained the army's head of operations.
Municipalities lack money
Representatives of Bavona and Lavizzara, the worst affected municipalities in Ticino, drew a similarly devastating conclusion as Ruppen.
A large part of his community was destroyed within a few hours, said Gabriele Dazio, mayor of Lavizzara, at a media conference above the destroyed ice rink in Prato Sornico. "We must now do everything we can to find the strength to restore this beautiful landscape," he demanded.
The two municipalities launched a joint campaign for reconstruction on Wednesday. Under the slogan "Bavona e Lavizzara: Ricostruiamo insieme" - "Bavona and Lavizzara: We are rebuilding together" - they want to raise money and coordinate the reconstruction together. Both municipalities lack the money to rebuild houses and public buildings, officials emphasized.
©Keystone/SDA
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