After heavy rain in the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, the federal highway 23 near Saulgrub remains closed due to a tunnel full of water. “The fire brigade checks every hour whether there are still cars in the tunnel,” said a spokesman for the Oberland integrated control center on Friday morning. However, the emergency services had no information about missing people.
Heavy rain fell in and around the communities of Saulgrub, Bad Kohlgrub and Bad Bayersoien on Thursday evening. According to the spokesman, fire brigades were alerted to more than 50 operations – mainly because of flooded basements, garages and flooded streets. According to initial findings, there were no injuries. A police spokesman confirmed the assessment.
It was initially unclear how long the tunnel on the B23 near Saulgrub will not be passable. On Friday morning, divers should possibly be used again to search for people and vehicles in the water, it was said. Divers had already tried to swim into the tunnel during the night. But because of the darkness this was not possible.
It was initially unclear why all the rainwater caused the tunnel to fill up. The spokesman for the control center suspected that pumps might not be working properly.