The remains of five victims of the devastating floods of October 2 near Nice were returned to families after their formal identification, the Nice prosecutor's office said on Wednesday, October 14, bringing the provisional toll of those missing in the disaster to 13, against 9 previously.
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The water washed away "
nearly 400 graves (...) which considerably complicates the task of the investigators
", underlined the public prosecutor Xavier Bonhomme, inviting "
caution
" concerning the provisional balance sheet of seven bodies found including five attributed with certainty to bad weather.
In this count, a body was found in Monaco and quickly handed over to the French authorities.
Among the identified victims is also a 49-year-old firefighter swept away and to whom an official tribute must be paid Wednesday afternoon.
Still "
48 hours
" to identify the bodies
Seven bodies were also found in Italy without certainty on the cause or place of death.
“
In the balance sheet, we can certainly add everything, but while being extremely careful.
Research is continuing, the results are not frozen,
”insisted Xavier Bonhomme.
“
We must be aware that we are in the presence of a totally extraordinary event.
"
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The prosecutor referred to the impressive material damage suffered by the two most affected valleys, the Vésubie and the Roya, but above all to the unprecedented nature according to him in France of the destruction of two cemeteries, total in Saint-Martin-Vésubie and partial in Saint-Dalmas-de-Tende.
"
According to the information we have gathered, this is the first time,
" said Xavier Bonhomme.
However, “
forensic scientists tell us that in general, after four or five days in the water, it is very difficult if not impossible to determine if it is a body related to the storm or (. ..) from one of the two cemeteries,
”he added.
"
It's empirical and to be taken with precaution but we may have 48 hours ahead of us, and more ...
", added Colonel Nicolas Thiburce, head of division at the Criminal Research Institute of the National Gendarmerie ( IRCGN) whose team is working on the identification of bodies.
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