Iran Press/ Europe: Following a day of frantic rescue efforts and orders to evacuate towns filling with water unloosed by violent storms, the German authorities said late Thursday that after confirming dozens of deaths, they were unable to account for at least 1,300 people.
With communication badly hampered, the authorities were hoping that the missing people were safe, if unreachable, but the storms and the floods have already proved deadly.
The storms and resulting high water also battered neighboring Switzerland, the Netherlands and Luxembourg as a slow-moving weather system threatened to dump even more rain on the inundated region overnight and into Friday.
It is expected that the number of the dead was expected to climb.
Angela Merkel, who was visiting Washington Thursday, expressed her condolences to those who had lost loved ones and thanked the thousands of helpers. She pledged the support of the German government for the affected regions.
224/221
Read More:
Death toll from severe flooding in Europe rises to 46
6 dead, 50 missing in Germany as houses collapse in floods
Pakistan: 10 killed, 3 injured in flood-related incidents
