Children missing in Gard: the body of a little girl found

Two children, aged 4 and 13, who disappeared in the Gard during the passage of storm Monica last weekend were still wanted this Tuesday, March 12. A body corresponding to &agrav; the little girl was found.

The two children, aged 4 and 13, who disappeared during the passage of storm Monica last Sunday remained untraceable. The search to try to find them resumed for the third day this Tuesday, March 12, around 8 a.m., after stopping operations during the night. The searches are taking place along the Gardon downstream of Dions, a village of 500 inhabitants north of Nîmes near which the car which sheltered the children was   ;eacute; carried away by the waters. This Tuesday, à 1:30 p.m., the body of a child was taken away found. It corresponds to the description of the little one in the family, aged 4 years. It has just been discovered by the Gard gendarmes as part of search operations. The provisional report now shows six deaths, linked to the bad weather. No news yet of the second child. 

The children's father had also disappeared at the same time, but his description seems to correspond to the body of a man found in the village. died on Monday March 11. A formal identification was still awaited. "The vehicle of the missing wasé found downstream of the submersible bridge yesterday", also indicated the prefect of Gard on . This Tuesday afternoon, in a press release, the Public Prosecutor confirmed that that the body discovered on Monday was indeed that of the father of the two children also missing. < /p>

The search had more chances of success this Tuesday according to the spokesperson for the Gard firefighters, Michel Cherbetian, contact person. by l'AFP. The man explained: that the water level fell again this Tuesday, returning the Gardon to a usual level and allowing "to refine the research", particularly in areas which remained  ;inaccessible or submerged yesterday. During floods, missing people can be carried away by rivers over several tens of kilometers and be found further away, later. ;eacute;cisé the fireman. The man, however, had not ruled out the attack. the possibility not to find the two children.

A lightweight research device

The search continues, but after two full days of excavations carried out in difficult conditions the chances of finding the children alive were dwindling. Due to the areas already affected; traveled and the concentration of searches in places not yet inspected or which are only becoming accessible again, the number of firefighters mobilized has been increased. reviewed &agrav; the decline. They are 50 à carried out the search this Tuesday, including 25 aquatic rescuers, while they were "110  firefighters and 120  gendarmes still engaged in the search&quot ; the day before. The teams on site are accompanied by “questing” dogs. capable of finding people without having a reference odor as well as three drones.

For her part, the mother survived. The whole family had taken refuge on the roof of the car before the vehicle was submerged, but only the mother had succeeded in doing so. take refuge in a tree to avoid being swept away by the water.

The mother of the missing 41-year-old man, once distraught, explained how at Parisien having welcomed the family for dinner on Saturday : "When they left, around 11 p.m., it was raining hard, but there was nothing alarming either. It was my daughter-in-law who took the wheel, she doesn't drink a drop of alcohol and is never reckless."