Storms in Switzerland cause flooding and a landslide that left at least 2 people dead

BERLIN — Storms in southern Switzerland caused a landslide that left two dead and one missing, and a bridge over a small river collapsed, police said Sunday.

Storms and heavy rain hit southern and western Switzerland on Saturday and overnight, with the worst affected areas being the Italian-speaking canton (state) of Ticino, on the southern side of the Alps.

Police said there was a major landslide in the Fontana area of ​​the Maggia Valley, near the city of Locarno. They said in a statement that the bodies of two people were recovered and were being identified, while rescuers searched for another person who remained missing.

Campsites along the Maggia River were evacuated and part of the small Visletto road bridge collapsed. Three other valleys in the region were inaccessible by road.

Further north, the Rhône River overflowed its banks in several areas of the canton of Valais, flooding a road and a railway line.

Floods, storms and landslides also hit several regions in northern Italy. Firefighters said they carried out about 80 rescue operations and evacuated dozens of people in the northern Piedmont region.

Between Montanaro and San Benigno Canavese, two adults and a three-month-old girl were rescued after the flooding of the Orco torrent left them trapped in their car, firefighters said. Several towns were isolated due to overflowing streams, storms and landslides in the Aosta Valley region.