The death toll in floods in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia has increased to 43, officials said, pushing the total number of fatalities in Germany and Belgium above 100.
Rescuers are scrambling to find survivors and rescue people trapped in houses at risk of collapse.
Hundreds of people are still missing and thousands are homeless after days of heavy storms that caused flash floods across western Germany and Belgium.
In a provisional tally, the Belgian death toll has risen to 12, with five people still missing, local authorities and media reported early on Friday.
The flash floods this week followed days of heavy rainfall which turned streams and streets into raging torrents that swept away cars and caused houses to collapse across the region.
9. Firefighters rest behind debris of houses in Schuld, Germany, Friday, July 16, 2021.
Two days before the Ahr river went over the banks after strong rain falls causing severals deaths and hundreds of people missing. (AP Photo/Michael Probst) Photo: Michael Probst
10. A woman stands next to cars and rubble piled up in a street after the floods caused major damage in Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler, western Germany, on July 16, 2021. - The death toll from devastating floods in Europe soared to at least 93, most of them in western Germany, where emergency responders were searching for hundreds of missing people. (Photo by Christof STACHE / AFP) (Photo by CHRISTOF STACHE/AFP via Getty Images)
A woman stands next to cars and rubble piled up in a street after the floods caused major damage in Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler, western Germany, on July 16, 2021. Photo: CHRISTOF STACHE
11. People pass by destroyed cars after the floods caused major damage in Euskirchen, western Germany, on July 16, 2021.
People pass by destroyed cars after the floods caused major damage in Euskirchen, western Germany, on July 16, 2021. - The death toll from devastating floods in Europe soared to at least 93, most of them in western Germany, where emergency responders were searching for hundreds of missing people. (Photo by SEBASTIEN BOZON / AFP) Photo: SEBASTIEN BOZON
12. Cars lie in a washed out part of the Bessem district of Erftstadt, Germany, Friday, July 16, 2021. Heavy rains caused mudslides and flooding in the western part of Germany. Multiple have died and dozens are missing as severe flooding in Germany and Belgium turned streams and streets into raging, debris-filled torrents that swept away cars and toppled houses. (David Young/dpa via AP)
Cars lie in a washed out part of the Bessem district of Erftstadt, Germany, Friday, July 16, 2021. Heavy rains caused mudslides and flooding in the western part of Germany. Multiple have died and dozens are missing as severe flooding in Germany and Belgium turned streams and streets into raging, debris-filled torrents that swept away cars and toppled houses. (David Young/dpa via AP) Photo: David Young