In this July 15, 2021 file photo the Ahr river...

In this July 15, 2021 file photo the Ahr river floats past destroyed houses in Insul, Germany. Remains of a person missing since devastating floods in western Germany more than two years ago have been found near the mouth of the small Ahr river, which in the summer of 2021 turned into a raging torrent, police said Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2023. Credit: AP/Michael Probst

BERLIN — Remains of a person missing since devastating summer floods in western Germany more than two years ago were found near the mouth of the small Ahr river, police said Tuesday.

People collecting garbage in an area where the Ahr flows into the Rhine in the town of Sinzig found several bones and bone fragments on Oct 15. Investigators carried out a DNA test that police said determined the remains were those of a person who had been missing since the floods.

They didn't give any details on the person, citing the need to protect their relatives.

More than 230 people died in Germany and neighboring Belgium in the floods on July 14, 2021.

The hardest-hit area was the Ahr valley, a wine-growing region south of Cologne where more than 130 people died when heavy rain turned the Ahr river and streams into torrents that swept away houses, roads and bridges.

The remains found this month belonged to one of two people who were still missing.

On the latest episode of "Sarra Sounds Off," Newsday's Gregg Sarra takes a look at the football awards given out in Nassau and Suffolk,  plus Jared Valluzzi and Jonathan Ruban with the plays of the year. Credit: Newsday/Steve Pfost, Michael A. Rupolo

Sarra Sounds Off, Ep. 14: LI football awards On the latest episode of "Sarra Sounds Off," Newsday's Gregg Sarra takes a look at the football awards given out in Nassau and Suffolk, plus Jared Valluzzi and Jonathan Ruban with the plays of the year.

On the latest episode of "Sarra Sounds Off," Newsday's Gregg Sarra takes a look at the football awards given out in Nassau and Suffolk,  plus Jared Valluzzi and Jonathan Ruban with the plays of the year. Credit: Newsday/Steve Pfost, Michael A. Rupolo

Sarra Sounds Off, Ep. 14: LI football awards On the latest episode of "Sarra Sounds Off," Newsday's Gregg Sarra takes a look at the football awards given out in Nassau and Suffolk, plus Jared Valluzzi and Jonathan Ruban with the plays of the year.

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