- Title: President Steinmeier expresses sympathy for victims, Laschet talks in background
- Date: 17th July 2021
- Summary: ERFTSTADT, GERMANY (JULY 17, 2021) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (German) GERMAN PRESIDENT, FRANK-WALTER STEINMEIER, SAYING: "And I think it is very good, that the regions and the federal government made it clear very early, that those who have lost so much, who had such losses, (PREMIER OF NORTH RHINE-WESTPHALIA AND CDU CHIEF, ARMIN LASCHET, CAN BE SEEN TALKING IN THE BACKGROUND ON THE LEFT) that we will provide them with help." (PREMIER OF NORTH RHINE-WESTPHALIA AND CDU CHIEF, ARMIN LASCHET, CAN BE SEEN TO LAUGH AT SOMETHING SAID TO HIM IN THE BACKGROUND) "And this help that has been promised, should also be for the communities who in the next days and weeks won't only have to clear up the damage, but will also have to rebuild everything, the roads that are destroyed, the bridges that have been swept away. And that is why it is good that such support has been agreed."
- Embargoed: 31st July 2021 15:50
- Keywords: Flut Hochwasser Lach Laschet Steinmeier Ueberschwemmung
- Location: ERFTSTADT, GERMANY
- City: ERFTSTADT, GERMANY
- Country: Germany
- Topics: Disaster/Accidents,Europe,Floods
- Reuters ID: LVA001EM8AC7B
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: The German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier promised support for the victims of the floods that have ravaged parts of Germany after burst rivers and flash floods this week collapsed houses and claimed at least 157 lives.
"I think it is very good, that the regions and the federal government made it clear very early, that those who have lost so much, who had such losses, that we will provide them with help," Steinmeier said during a visit to Erftstadt in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, where the disaster killed at least 43 people
"And this help that has been promised, should also be for the communities who in the next days and weeks won't only have to clear up the damage, but will also have to rebuild everything, the roads that are destroyed, the bridges that have been swept away. And that is why it is good that such support has been agreed."
While Steinmeier was speaking, Armin Laschet, state premier of North Rhine-Westphalia and the ruling CDU party's candidate in September's general election, could be seen talking in the background and at one point laughing at something said to him.
Some 135 people have died in the flooding in western Germany, the country's worst natural disaster in more than half a century. That included about 90 in the Ahrweiler district south of Cologne, according to police. Hundreds of people are still missing.
Around 700 residents were evacuated late on Friday after a dam broke in the town of Wassenberg near Cologne, authorities said.
The Steinbachtal dam in western Germany, however, remained at risk of breaching, authorities said after some 4,500 people were evacuated from homes downstream.
Steinmeier called the flooding a tragedy and said it would take weeks before the full damage, expected to require several billions of euros in reconstruction funds, could be assessed.
Armin Laschet, state premier of North Rhine-Westphalia and the ruling CDU party's candidate in September's general election, said he would speak to Finance Minister Olaf Scholz in the coming days about financial support.
Tens of thousands of residents in the region have been evacuated in the past two days, while soldiers, fire brigades and volunteers worked frantically throughout Friday night to enforce dams and dykes to prevent further flooding.
(production: Petra Wischgoll, Leon Kugeler, Ute Swart) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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