Russian floods: Death toll rises

Giant cranes lifted ruined cars and other debris out of the Black Sea today after 58 people, mostly Russian holidaymakers, died in torrential floods.

As the sun shone for the first time in days, workers searched the coastline for more bodies among the wreckage.

Russia suffered most from the floods that swept across Europe last week, killing 68 people, destroying homes and washing away roads and bridges.

Thousands of Russian tourists who had descended on the Black Sea Coast for their summer holidays were caught up in the surprise flooding.

Many remain stranded, their cars swept out to sea by a wall of water that came rushing down from the mountains.

The Interfax news agency said that as many as 4,000 tourists were still trapped in Shirokaya Balka, a scenic coastal village that was devastated by the flooding.

Ivan Aristov, deputy chief of the administration of the Black Sea port of Novorossiisk, said that all would be offered the chance to return home.

But Russia’s NTV said today that many tourists were choosing to stay on, saying that they had already paid for their holidays.

In Germany, a state of emergency was declared in Bavaria and Baden-Wuerttemberg after rains washed out roads, caused landslides and flooded homes.

Hardest hit was the southeast portion of Baden-Wuerttemberg. In Reutlingen, south of Stuttgart, roads and buildings were completely submerged, causing electrical systems to short circuit and spark fires.

In the southern Bavarian town of Moosach, residents had to be evacuated from their homes by boat, and in nearby Glonn, water was as high as the windows of many houses.

The only storm-related fatality, however, was reported in Lower Saxony when a 31-year-old man was killed when he lost control of the Red Cross van he was driving and hit a tree.

In Austria, a dam burst last night in the town of Zwettl, submerging 50 to 60 houses, local reports said. Residents were frantically piling sandbags to protect threatened homes and businesses.

Elsewhere in the province of Lower Austria, an afternoon deluge raised water levels in the Kamp River by 5ft, Austrian radio said. The river was rising so quickly that authorities were considering evacuating thousands of local people.