Further missing person reports during Swiss floods
Floods have caused devastation in Switzerland.
Keystone / Michael Buholzer
Fears are growing for three more people, including a father and son, who went missing in Switzerland during a period of flooding in the last few days.
This content was published on
3 minutes
SRF
Do you want to read our weekly top stories? Subscribe here.
Severe floods south of the Alps have already resulted in one fatality after triggering a landslide in canton Graubünden. Two other people, who were reported missing on Sunday, still haven’t been found.
On Monday, three other people were reported missing in the Bernese Oberland, including a father and his child who fell into the Giessbach Falls on Lake Brienz at the weekend. Despite a major search operation, they remain missing.
There has also been no sign of a woman also fell into a stream in Lenk, canton Bern.
The Giessbach Falls on Lake Brienz is a popular tourist destination. A family was hiking with two small children when, according to the Bern cantonal police, a child and the father fell into the Giessbach Falls for “reasons that have yet to be clarified”.
The report was received shortly before 4.30pm on Sunday. After the alarm was raised, the rescue services began an extensive search. Several helicopters and boats were used to search for the missing people, but to date there has been no success.
Distraught mother
A reader-reporter from the newspaper Blick was nearby at the time of the incident. “The mother was completely distraught,” he said. The woman kept screaming: “Where can I find my family?”
The reader-reporter also told the newspaper that a police officer on the scene told him that the missing man had left the paved path and was very close to the waterfall when he fell. When asked, police did not want to provide any details about the incident.
According to the Bern police, a woman is also currently missing. She fell into the Iffigbach river while out for a walk on Saturday near the town of Lenk in Simmental. She was with a companion. It is still unclear why the woman fell into the water.
In addition to numerous patrols and the maritime police of the Bern cantonal police, several firefighters, helicopters and members of Swiss Alpine Rescue with canyoning specialists were involved in the search operations.
The care team of the canton of Bern was also on duty to look after the people affected.
Translated from German by DeepL/mga
This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles.
If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to english@swissinfo.ch.
External Content
Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Almost finished… We need to confirm your email address. To complete the subscription process, please click the link in the email we just sent you.
Popular Stories
More
Foreign Affairs
In Switzerland four out of ten people have a migrant background – who are they?
Train vs plane: would you take a direct train between London and Geneva?
Eurostar is planning to run direct trains from Britain to Germany and Switzerland from the early 2030s. Would you favour the train over the plane? If not, why not?
Porrentruy mayor comments on Swiss pool ban controversy
This content was published on
The mayor of the Swiss town of Porrentruy, which has been in the headlines in neighbouring France after restricting access to a pool to locals after a spate of anti-social behaviour, says he has received much support in recent days.
Swiss universities to release multilingual AI programme
This content was published on
This summer researchers at Swiss universities will make available a large language model (LLM), an AI programme trained on vast amounts of data, developed on public infrastructure.
This content was published on
After a one-year test phase, Zurich's cantonal police are introducing an online police station. Demand is high and the response from the public has been positive.
This content was published on
The chic resort of St Moritz in southeastern Switzerland has registered "summer" as a trademark under the name "St Summer". The resort in canton Graubünden is launching a campaign to strengthen its summer business.
Swiss authorities detail progress on station access for people with reduced mobility
This content was published on
The Federal Office of Transport (FOT) said on Wednesday that 43 stations had been adapted for people with reduced mobility last year. The vast majority of rail travellers (82%) now benefit from easier access to stations, it says.
This content was published on
The prices of homes and apartments in Switzerland rose again in June. In the Lake Geneva region, prices of detached houses rose sharply. Meanwhile, in Zurich and its surrounding region the opposite trend was observed.
Crowded airports expected in Switzerland this summer
This content was published on
Switzerland's main airports are preparing for a busy summer holiday period. A number of changes have been introduced to improve passenger flows that are expected to be well above average in July and August.
Zurich police arrest 38 football and hockey fans after violent incidents
This content was published on
Zurich police have investigated 48 cases of fan violence at stadiums in the Swiss city since last autumn and arrested a total of 38 people, Swiss public television, SRF, reports.
Cashflow problems affect UN Human Rights Council activities
This content was published on
Certain activities of the Geneva-based United Nations Human Rights Council cannot be carried out in 2025-2026 due of the ongoing cash crisis affecting the UN.
Plaintiffs take Khaled Nezzar case to European Court of Human Rights
This content was published on
Two plaintiffs in a serious war crimes case against former Algerian Defence Minister Khaled Nezzar have filed an appeal with the European Court of Human Rights.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.