Scholz visits flood-hit region in southern Germany

Germny's Chancellor Olaf Scholz (C), walks next to Bavaria's Minister President Markus Soeder (L), during a site inspection in Reichertshofen, Upper Bavaria, which was hit by flooding. Sven Hoppe/dpa

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Interior Minister Nancy Faeser have arrived in the southern German region of Upper Bavaria which is grappling with heavy flooding.

Together with Bavaria's State Premier Markus Söder, they aim to gain an impression of the situation on the ground in the market town of Reichertshofen, which was flooded by masses of water the day before.

Speaking to local politicians, Faeser expressed her shock at the death of a firefighter in a flood operation: "It's really terrible what happened," she said on Monday. "It shows just how dangerous these operations are."

Faeser said she was impressed by how well the emergency services worked together.

Her impression was "that lessons have been learnt from the Ahr Valley, that coordination and cooperation work much better," she said, referring to heavy flooding in Germany's Ahr valley in July 2021, in which over 180 people were killed and many thousands lost their homes.

Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz (front 4th L), Bavarian Minister President Markus Soeder (front 3rd L), and Germany's Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser (front 2nd L) stand behind a barrier made of sandbags during a site inspection in Reichertshofen, Upper Bavaria, which was hit by flooding. Sven Hoppe/dpa
Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (1st row 4th L), Bavarian Minister President Markus Soeder (1st row 3rd L), Germany's Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser (1st row 2nd L) stand behind a barrier of filled sandbags during a site inspection in Reichertshofen, Upper Bavaria, which was hit by flooding. Peter Kneffel/dpa
Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz (L), Bavarian Minister-President Markus Soeder (2nd L), Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann (L), Germany's Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (front L) stand behind a barrier of filled sandbags during a site inspection in Reichertshofen, Upper Bavaria, which was hit by flooding. Sven Hoppe/dpa

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