Switzerland Struck with Landslides, Floods

A view of a flood in Chippis, Switzerland, June 21, 2024, in this screengarb obtained from a social media video. X/@ABettmeralp/via REUTERS/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
A view of a flood in Chippis, Switzerland, June 21, 2024, in this screengarb obtained from a social media video. X/@ABettmeralp/via REUTERS/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
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Switzerland Struck with Landslides, Floods

A view of a flood in Chippis, Switzerland, June 21, 2024, in this screengarb obtained from a social media video. X/@ABettmeralp/via REUTERS/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
A view of a flood in Chippis, Switzerland, June 21, 2024, in this screengarb obtained from a social media video. X/@ABettmeralp/via REUTERS/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights

Four people died and two were missing in Switzerland on Sunday after violent thunderstorms and melting snow caused flooding and landslides in two southern cantons, police said.

Three of the victims were killed early on Sunday in a landslide in the remote Maggia valley, in the Italian-speaking Alpine canton of Ticino, police said in a statement, Reuters reported.

The three bodies were recovered in the Fontana area of the Maggia valley and they were currently being identified, while another person was missing in the Lavizzara side-arm of the valley, Ticino authorities said.

A bridge downstream of the disaster area in the Maggia valley was submerged, complicating rescue efforts, they added.

One camp site in the valley has been evacuated by helicopter and 300 people at a local soccer tournament would soon also be evacuated by helicopter, police said.

In the southwestern Swiss canton of Valais, police said a man was found dead in a hotel in the Alpine town of Saas-Grund. Police said he was likely surprised by flooding as melting snow compounded violent thunderstorms.

They added that another man was missing in another region in the Valais canton.



Peru Scientists Unveil Crocodile Fossil Up to 12 Million Years Old

Paleontologists unveil the fossil of a young marine crocodile dating back 10 to 12 million years discovered in Peru. Ernesto BENAVIDES / AFP
Paleontologists unveil the fossil of a young marine crocodile dating back 10 to 12 million years discovered in Peru. Ernesto BENAVIDES / AFP
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Peru Scientists Unveil Crocodile Fossil Up to 12 Million Years Old

Paleontologists unveil the fossil of a young marine crocodile dating back 10 to 12 million years discovered in Peru. Ernesto BENAVIDES / AFP
Paleontologists unveil the fossil of a young marine crocodile dating back 10 to 12 million years discovered in Peru. Ernesto BENAVIDES / AFP

Paleontologists unveiled on Wednesday the fossil of a young marine crocodile dating back 10 to 12 million years that was discovered in a Peruvian desert.
The fossil of the gharial -- or fish-eating -- crocodile, around three meters long (nearly 10 feet), was discovered late 2023 in perfect condition in Peru's Ocucaje desert, around 350 kilometers (190 miles) south of the capital Lima, AFP said.
"This is the first time we found a juvenile of this species, that is to say, it had not reached its maximum size yet. It died before that," vertebrate paleontologist Mario Gamarra told a news conference.
The skull and jaws of these specimens differed from that of today's crocodiles and alligators, according to Gamarra, who headed the reconstruction of the fossil.
"They had an elongated snout and their diet was entirely piscivorous, feeding on fish," said Gamarra.
"The closest current relative to this crocodile would be the Indian gharial," he added.
The discovery was made jointly by Peru's Geological, Mining and Metallurgical Institute and the La Union school.
Peru's Ocucaje desert is rich in fossils, such as four-legged dwarf whales, dolphins, sharks and other species from the Miocene period -- between 5 and 23 million years ago -- that were previously discovered there.