Another body found in southern Switzerland after June storms
A body was found in the Maggia river in the southern Swiss canton of Ticino on Thursday, police said. It is “likely” to be the sixth victim of devastating storms which hit the region at the end of June.
“Identification should be completed by Monday at the latest,” said Renato Pizolli, spokesman for the Ticino police, interviewed by the Keystone news agency.
The body was discovered during repair work by civil protection services near a shooting range in the municipality of Cevio, the police said.
If confirmed as another victim of the recent bad weather, it would bring to six the number of people found dead in the upper Maggia valley. Two others are still missing.
+ How Switzerland tries to deal with extreme weather events
Over the weekend, the bodies of three German tourists were found; they had been swept away by a landslide in the village of Fontana, in the Bavona valley, a side valley of Val Maggia.
Emergency services also found two bodies in the Maggia river near Riveo.
Army help
A few days ago, the army began building a footbridge in Cevio to replace the collapsed Visletto bridge. Since Tuesday, tourists with reservations have been able to travel between the upper and lower Maggia valleys in light vehicles, but only between 11am and 3pm.
On Thursday, Ticino authorities asked the army to extend its help in the Maggia valley by a week until July 28, instead of July 21 as originally planned. This extension will enable the troops already deployed to complete the work at Cevio, local authorities said. The federal authorities approved the extended deployment.
Translated from French by DeepL/dos
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