At least six dead after torrential rains



The balance sheet is growing. Four bodies were found on Thursday by relief workers who came to the aid of flood victims in eastern Belgium, said Verviers prosecutor Gilles de Villers Grand Champ. According to RTBF, this brings to at least six deaths the toll of the floods linked to the torrential rains that have hit the flat country in recent days.

The rescue services are progressing in the affected municipalities as the waters recede, said the prosecutor, who did not specify either the place or the circumstances of the deaths. The towns of Spa, Theux and Pepinster, all located near Verviers, were among the most affected by the torrential rains, which caused the rivers in the area to emerge from their beds.

“In sixty years, I’ve never seen that”

About ten houses have collapsed in Pepinster. In Eupen, in the east of the country, a 22-year-old man was swept away by a stream, and, in Aywaille, south of Liège, a 50-year-old drowned in his cellar, according to the same source.

“It’s a disaster,” said Suzanne Tillmanns, a resident of Pepinster whose house was flooded. In sixty years, I have never seen this. According to the government of the Walloon region, hundreds, even thousands of people will have to be relocated.

This Thursday morning, due to the flooding of the Meuse and its tributaries, the inhabitants of the Liège agglomeration were asked not to leave their homes in order to leave traffic to help. At the beginning of the afternoon, the mayor of Liège called for part of the city to be evacuated.

No Thalys train will run during the day between Brussels and Germany, said the company managing these international links.



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