what we know about the seven missing in Gard and Ardèche

A father and his two children were swept away by water on a bridge. Four other people are also missing.

Seven people went missing on Sunday March 10, following bad weather in the South-East. Six are currently wanted in Gard, including a father and his two children, indicated the department prefecture during a press conference given Sunday morning. Another disappearance was also reported in neighboring Ardèche. The two departments had been placed on orange flood alert on Saturday evening, a vigilance still in effect on Sunday morning.

Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin clarified that “the people’s vehicles were found, but not the people”. “Very heavy rain hit these departments last night, leading to rising water levels and unfortunately missing people”, he lamented. The Gard prefecture, for its part, evokes an unprecedented event, in terms of its scale, since “10 years, in 2014”. Here’s what you need to know about these seven disappearances.

A father and his two children taken away, the mother rescued

In Gard, a car was swept away on Saturday evening around 11:30 p.m. in Dions, with a family of four on board. The vehicle was then entering a submersible bridge on the RD22. The 40-year-old mother was rescued by firefighters and taken to hospital. Her husband and two children aged 4 and 13 are still wanted. An advanced aid station has been installed. “It is complicated at the moment to know what the chances are of finding people quickly, even if the searches will accelerate”explains Frédéric Loiseau, secretary general of the prefecture.

“Thirty-two firefighters were engaged, including 20 water rescuers, 21 vehicles, two drones, a dog team, and a gendarmerie helicopter”continues the secretary general of the prefecture.

Two women in their fifties and a sixty-year-old still wanted

Two women aged 47 and 50 called for help at 5:10 a.m. Sunday, in difficulty in Goudargues, on a submersible bridge on the RD23. “Contact was lost during the call, which suggests that these people were quickly in difficulty”, depending on the prefecture. These two women, who were going to Spain, are still wanted. “28 firefighters, a drone, a Bouches-du-Rhône civil security helicopter were engaged”adds Frédéric Loiseau.

A first disappearance, that of a Belgian in his sixties, was reported on Saturday evening. A car was swept away by water in the town of Gagnières, north of Gard. The man, aged 62, is still wanted.

In total, 250 firefighters were mobilized during the night from Saturday to Sunday, and four gendarmerie helicopters, summarizes France Bleu Gard-Lozère. Emergency services are awaiting reinforcements from neighboring departments and from Lyon. “We have to go back 10 years, to 2014, to find an event of this magnitude in the Gard department”says the secretary general of the prefecture.

An employee of a hydroelectric power station disappeared in Ardèche

The person reported missing in Ardèche on Saturday evening, also linked to bad weather, is the manager of a hydroelectric power station who was working on a private power station in the town of Saint-Martin-de-Valamas, Agence Radio France learned from from the gendarmerie, confirming information from the AFP.

The man is 70 years old. He arrived on site at 4:30 p.m. and his colleagues, without news of him, alerted the emergency services around 7 p.m. Firefighters found his wallet on site. Searches were then initiated in the Eyrieux river, with the support of six divers, before stopping at 10:30 p.m. and resuming early this Sunday, reports France Bleu.