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WEATHER

Flooding follows hail in storm-struck regions

Heavy rain hit the canton of Fribourg, causing flooding in numerous communities on Monday afternoon, a day after hailstorms struck several regions of Switzerland.

Flooding follows hail in storm-struck regions
Photo: Bdahl/Wikimedia Commons

Fribourg cantonal police said emergency crews responded to 27 emergency calls, primarily for flooded basements in the Sarine area.

The communities of Treyvaux, Ependes, Le Mouret, Marly, Givisiez and Chiètres were among those impacted, police said.

Nine fire brigades helped deal with the high water.

Local fire fighters cleared a landslide that covered the Route du Condoz in Villars-sur-Glâne, cantonal police said.

As a precaution due to unstable rock in the area, police closed the road to traffic overnight with a diversion put into place.

No injuries were initially reported.

The rain followed storms on Sunday that swept across a region extending from Vaud to Lake Constance.

Hailstones pummeled the vineyards of Morges and Lavaux in the canton of Vaud, insurer Schweizer Hagel (Suisse Grêle) said.

The insurer said hail also fell on the cantons of Fribourg, Bern, Basel-City, Basel-Country and Aargau.

The company said it received claims from 700 market gardeners, fruit growers, wine growers and horticulturists who suffered damage estimated at up to three million francs.

The cantons of Jura, Neuchâtel and Ticino were among those also reporting heavy rain, the ATS news service reported.

Meanwhile, winds close to 100 kilometres an hour were clocked in Schaffhausen and 90 km/h in Basel.

MeteoSwiss is forecasting a drop in temperatures in most parts of Switzerland on Tuesday with rain across the country and thunderstorms in the southeast.
 

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SKIING

Two skiers killed in Swiss avalanche

Two cross-country skiers have been killed in an avalanche near the plush resort of Klosters in southeast Switzerland, police said Saturday.

Two skiers killed in Swiss avalanche

The accident happened on Friday, the Graubunden regional police said.

“In the Schintersiten area they took a slope with a steep gradient,” a police statement said.

“Several avalanches broke out and dragged the two men about 200 metres down the rocky terrain.

“As a result, both the 54-year-old and his 57-year-old companion, both of whom lived in the canton of Bern, were fatally injured.”

The Graubunden public prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation alongside the cantonal police.

Before Friday’s accident, 12 people had lost their lives in avalanches in Switzerland since October 1 last year, according to statistics from the WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research.

A total of 142 avalanche-related accidents have occurred, with 188 people swept away.

Earlier this month, six cross-country skiers went missing in a storm near the southern luxury resort of Zermatt. The group, aged 21 to 58, included five members of the same family.

Five bodies were recovered and the search for the sixth person was ultimately called off.

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