Berlin / Ljubljana (dpa) – The first experts from Germany’s Federal Agency for Technical Relief (THW) have arrived in the disaster region in Slovenia. The first to arrive in Slovenia was a specialist rescue team with heavy equipment and bulldozers; further relief workers from Germany with clearing equipment and two mobile bridges are to follow in the very near future. THW operations leader Thorsten Meier said that the situation in Slovenia reminded him of the disaster in the Ahr Valley in Germany two years ago. “We are also seeing swept-away houses and swept-away bridges here, as well as considerable damage in the area where the flooding passed through.“
Slovenia had requested help at the weekend. Persistent and heavy rainfall had caused rivers and waterways to burst their banks, and flooding and landslides have caused enormous damage. Villages were evacuated, roads and railway tracks were under water, and a dam burst on the river Mur. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz had announced Germany’s aid and wrote: “We are shocked by the catastrophic floods in Slovenia and Austria. Our thoughts are with the victims, families and everyone who has lost their homes.“
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