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Tanks in Erftstadt: The Bundeswehr has started the clean-up work in the particularly hard hit city
Photo: David Young / dpa
While the water masses are slowly retreating from many flood areas in North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate, the search for fatalities continues in the rubble of the disaster areas.
By Saturday noon, this number rose to more than 130. According to the police, over 90 people were killed in the greater Ahrweiler area alone.
It is to be feared that more will be added, said the Koblenz police.
Hundreds of people were injured, according to the police - this number could also rise.
In total, the Koblenz police headquarters had reports of 618 injuries.
According to the NRW Interior Ministry, there were at least 43 fatalities and many injured nationwide in North Rhine-Westphalia.
During a visit to the particularly affected Erftstadt, Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier expressed his condolences to relatives and acquaintances of those who died.
"Your fate tears our hearts apart," said Steinmeier.
Many would have lost everything they had built up in their lives.
"The greatest loss has to be borne by those who have lost relatives in the floods," Steinmeier continued.
Clean-up work in full swing - further fatalities feared
The rescue workers, meanwhile, feared that they might discover more victims after the water had withdrawn.
In Erftstadt-Blessem, for example, the clean-up work is still in full swing.
A spokesman for the Rhein-Erft district therefore cannot rule out the possibility of deaths being found.
No further fatalities have so far been discovered during salvage work on Bundesstraße 265 near Erftstadt.
There the Bundeswehr had started to rescue the vehicles trapped by the floods with armored vehicles.
In connection with the flood disaster in the Ahrweiler area, the death toll "unfortunately increased to over 90," wrote the Koblenz police on Twitter on Saturday morning.
More deaths are to be feared.
The authorities were largely reluctant to provide information on the number of missing persons.
Since the cellular network and telephone lines were still interrupted in several areas, there was no possibility of telephone contact tracing.
At least 24 flood victims in Belgium
In Belgium, the death toll has risen to 24 following the severe storms.
As the police in the Angleur district in Liège announced, at least one other fatality was recovered on Saturday night.
Numerous people are still missing there.
The Belgian Prime Minister Alexander de Croo and EU Commission Head Ursula von der Leyen visited the affected areas on Saturday.
Police officers and helpers were on duty in numerous communities in the south and east of the country to rescue possible further victims.
De Croo has declared a national day of mourning for Tuesday.
After days of heavy rain, the densely populated valleys in the Meuse region were flooded on Thursday.
On Saturday the sky cleared and the rain subsided.
The receding water masses left a picture of destruction in more than a hundred Belgian communities.
lmd / dpa / AFP
