The search for a missing person continues in the Maggia Valley
Published: Sunday, Jun 30th 2024, 14:10
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According to police reports, a very large area in the canton of Ticino was hit by storms on Sunday night. A person from the Val Lavizzara, a side valley of the Maggia Valley, is still being sought. The search was still underway at midday.
The bodies of two people were found in Val Bavona this morning. Ticino media reported that the people found lifeless were two Swiss-German women who had been on vacation there. However, this has not yet been officially confirmed by the Ticino police.
At a press conference in Locarno, the Ticino police provided information about the consequences of the storms in the Maggia Valley. The heavy thunderstorms that fell over the Maggia Valley on Sunday night brought 200 millimeters of water in just a few hours. The situation was worse than during the severe flooding in 1987.
Collapsed bridge near Cevio
The search for the missing person continued on Sunday with the help of helicopters, according to the police. The authorities recalled that the storms had also caused a bridge in Cevio, at the entrance to the Maggia Valley, to collapse.
The entire upper part of the valley, which is popular with tourists, was therefore cut off from transportation routes. According to the authorities, the region also has to make do without communication, electricity and drinking water.
Evacuated hamlet
In the hamlet of Mogno, at the upper end of Val Lavizzara - known for the futuristic church designed by Mario Botta - a summer colony of 40 children and 30 adults was evacuated.
In Peccia, on the other hand, 300 people who had gathered for a football tournament were still waiting to be taken back down to the valley on Sunday lunchtime.
Another smaller landslide was reported in the Onsernone Valley above Locarno. The rest of Ticino was spared from the storms.
©Keystone/SDA
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