Death toll climbs in French flash floods

RESCUERS airlifted survivors and searched for missing people in southern France yesterday after heavy rainstorms triggered flash floods that left at least 18 people dead, officials said.

Teams of firefighters rushed to help hundreds of people trapped in their vehicles, houses or on rooftops, in the Draguignan area near the Mediterranean coast, while helicopters were sent in to airlift residents to safety.

Emergency teams also moved 436 inmates from a flooded prison in Draguignan where the water covered the first two floors and they were taken to nearby jails.