Germany: 155 still missing one week after the flood. Today, the government deciding about aids

Almost one week after the flood, the number of victims reached 170, with 122 of them in Rhineland-Palatinate and 48 in North Rhine-Westphalia. A young fireman, who died in North Rhine yesterday during a rescue operation, adds up to the list. Four of his colleagues died in the last few days. There are then 155 people missing just in Ahrweiler, the area hit the hardest by the fury of water (Rhineland-Palatinate). Overall, about 40,000 people have to reckon with a future that needs to be rebuilt. Today, the Federal Government will meet to decide about first aids: yesterday, Angela Merkel, who wne to Rhineland last Sunday, visited the hardest-hit areas of North Rhine-Westphalia to get an idea of the situation. A first tranche of aids is expected to amount to approximately 50 million euros, but such figure might be doubled up by the Federal Government today. For Rhineland- Palatinate, the president of the Land, Malu Dreyer, promised to give first aids to the families: 1,500 euros per household plus 500 euros for each member, up to a maximum of 3,500 euros. At a federal and regional level, it has been promised that aids will be granted “with no bureaucratic complications”.
Valentina Bombelli