Bellinzona
Three German holidaymakers died this weekend in the landslide in Ticino. Two of the women were 73, one was 76 years old and like them came from Baden-Württemberg Police reported. The bodies had already been recovered on Sunday evening after the landslide near Fontana in the Maggia Valley, but had not yet been identified.
There was a huge amount of work that preceded that storm with heavy rain. To protect the privacy of the deceased and their relatives, police will not say where exactly in Baden-Württemberg the women lived.
Piles of rubble several meters high
A police spokesman told dpa that he assumed at least two of the three women were on holiday together. It is difficult to say who exactly lived in which house, because no stone was left unturned in the area where the landslide occurred. Meters of rubble were created. Debris piled up on the paths and streets. Cars were destroyed.
A teenager told the newspaper ‘Blick’ how he and his father found two of the bodies on Sunday morning. The 16-year-old, who lives with his family further up the valley, had climbed towards Fontana early in the morning. The family had heard about the landslide and wanted to investigate because they own a house in the valley.
You would have seen a destroyed Rustico near Fontana. This is the name of the small traditional style houses, mostly made of granite stones, which are often rented out as holiday homes. They found two people in the rubble and discovered that they were no longer alive.
They had been unable to alert police because there was no mobile phone reception in the valley. They got out and went to police, the boy told the newspaper. “I will never forget the pictures. It bothers me and makes me sad,” he said. The third body was not found until later.
At least five people are still missing
On Monday evening, four more people were reported missing in the upper Maggia Valley. According to police, two men and two women were reported missing. Police have not released any information about her identity.
This means that at least five people are still missing in the Maggia Valley. They could have been swept away by the raging waters of the swollen Maggia or boulders. Further down the valley, the river caused a 57-metre-long bridge at Visletto to collapse. The higher areas are therefore no longer accessible by road. Telephone connections have now been restored.
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