Floods claim 12th victim and force mass evacuations

Central Europe’s worst floods in over a decade claimed a 12th victim as torrents of muddy water surged down rivers through the Czech Republic and into Germany, flooding villages and forcing evacuations.

The huge volumes of water from heavy spring rains coming down the Danube and Elbe river systems also sparked mass mobilisations in Austria and threatened future inundations as far away as Budapest.

Eastern Germany, where vast areas are under water, braced for worse to come after the Elbe rose above eight metres (26ft), six metres higher than usual.