German leader gets flak for 'laughing' during visit to flood-affected areas; says 'sorry'

Germany's Center-right Union bloc candidate Armin Laschet apologised after he was spotted giggling while the country's President delivered a speech expressing solidarity and sympathy with Germany's flood victims.

On July 17, Saturday, the German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier had toured the town of Erftstadt in the province of North-Rhine Westphalia to survey damage caused by a massive landslide. Additionally, Armin Laschet also accompanied the leaders during the tour and visited several affected areas. However, Laschet received massive flak after videos of him joking with his colleagues were flashed on several news channels. Armin Laschet is the candidate of German Chancellor Angela Merkel's center-right Union block

Laschet was heavily criticized across Twitter for his "inappropriate" behaviour at the event. General Secretary of the center-left Social Democrats party, Lars Klingbeil took a sharp jibe at Laschet's presence and called his behaviour "lacking in decency and appalling." He also added that Laschet's character was shown "in times of crisis." On July 17, Saturday, he took Twitter to apologise for his behaviour and regretted the "impression that was created during the conversation." 

Over 1300 still missing

Over 1300 people are reportedly missing due to the floods across western Germany.  About 850 troops of the German military have been deployed in the affected areas, Associated Press reported. More than 700 people were evacuated late Friday after a dam broke near the town of Wassenberg, close to the Dutch border, according to Deutsche Presse-Agentur. Residents of the assisted living facility for disabled people and firefighters involved with rescue operations were declared dead after flooding turned streams and streets into raging torrents, reported AP.

German weather service spokesman Andreas Friedrich told CNN that some of the areas have not witnessed this much rainfall in the last 100 years. According to the German Weather department, the rains are said to continue until Thursday, causing severe hindrances to rescue operations.

(Input: AP)