Flash floods leave at least 10 dead on French Riviera

At least 10 people are dead following flooding caused by torrential rain in France’s Cote d'Azur region. The area, and further north in Alpes-Maritimes, was hit by the downpour on Saturday evening. Ten bodies have been recovered and another six people are still missing. The first three victims died as their Biot retirement home flooded after the nearby River Brague burst its banks. Thousands of homes were left without electricity and, according to France 24, up to 500 tourists, mostly British and Danish nationals were stuck overnight at Nice airport and hundreds more stranded for the night at a concert venue after attending a show by rocker Johnny Hallyday.

We have rescued a lot of people, and we must now be vigilant against looting.

Cannes Mayor Davis Lisnard

At least five other people were believed to have been killed when they tried to park their cars under shelter, three people drowned in their cars after becoming stuck inside a tunnel and a woman in her 60s died on the street in Cannes. Another victim died at a campsite in Antibes, where rescue helicopters airlifted others to safety from the rooftops of their caravans. French officials say the flooding closed the A8 motorway and Cannes railway station, while in Nice, a football game in the country’s first division was abandoned halfway through owing to rain.

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