BERLIN (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 16th July, 2021) The collapse of buildings triggered by heavy rains and floods in the German city of Erftstadt has resulted in multiple deaths, the Cologne authorities said Friday.
On Thursday, Erftstadt declared a state of emergency and carried out mass evacuation after the downpour made the Erft river overflow its banks.
"There are some casualties," a Cologne city government official was quoted as saying by German news agency DPA.
Desperate local residents persistently pleaded to be evacuated by rescue teams even though evacuation is currently only possible on boats, the official said.
Earlier in the day, the state police of North Rhine-Westphalia, where Erftstadt is situated, said that the disaster has killed 50 people in the region, raising the total death toll from the floods in Germany to at least 81 people.
