Police say the remains of a person missing since devastating floods in western Germany more than two years ago have been found near the mouth of the small Ahr river, which in the summer of 2021 became a raging torrent.
ByThe Associated Press
October 31, 2023, 10:43
FILE - In this July 15, 2021 file photo, the Ahr River floats past destroyed houses in Insul, Germany. The remains of a person missing after devastating floods in western Germany more than two years ago were found near the mouth of the small Ahr river, which in the summer of 2021 became a raging torrent, police said on Tuesday 31 October 2023. (AP Photo/Michael Probst, File)
The Associated Press
BERLIN -- The remains of a person missing after devastating summer floods in western Germany more than two years ago were found near the mouth of the small Ahr river, police said Tuesday.
People collecting rubbish in an area where the Ahr flows into the Rhine in the city of Sinzig found several bones and bone fragments on October 15. Investigators conducted a DNA test that police said determined the remains were those of a person who had been missing since the floods.
They did not provide any details about the person, citing the need to protect family members.
More than 230 people died in Germany and neighboring Belgium in the floods on July 14, 2021.
The worst affected area was the Ahr Valley, a wine-growing region south of Cologne, where more than 130 people died when heavy rain turned the Ahr River and its streams into torrents that swept away homes, roads and bridges.
The remains found this month belonged to one of two people still missing.
