No names are given on two missing children

July 19, 2009 - 12:16 PM No sign of missing children
Two children presumed to have been swept away by a swollen stream in central Switzerland were still missing on Sunday evening, according to reports.
Switzerland suffered from a deluge of rain on Friday and Saturday, causing water levels to rise in some areas.

A girl aged 11 years old and a six-month old boy were reported missing late on Friday evening. A four year old girl survived the accident.

Officials believe that the three crossed a stream swollen by heavy rainfall near the village of Wolfenschiessen. The alarm was raised after the four year old managed to walk to a farm.

Parts of Italian-speaking Ticino, as well as central and southeastern Switzerland have suffered heavy rainfall over the weekend. Localised flooding and small landslips have been reported. The weather situation eased on Sunday, according to officials.

Elsewhere, a woman has died after rafting accident in the Bernese Oberland. Police said on Saturday that the woman, whose identity has not yet been fully established, died in hospital. The condition of a second woman also injured when the raft hit a rock cliff is said to be in grave.

They were part of a group, mostly of tourists from the United States, Australia and Ireland, on a rafting trip in the region on Friday. The exact cause of the accident is not yet known, police said.

Last year five Swiss soldiers died in a rafting accident in the Bernese Alps. The body of a sixth victim has not been found.

swissinfo.ch and agencies
http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/news_digest/Search_for_missing_children_continued.html?siteSect=104&sid=10973493&cKey=1247998448000&ty=nd

JEDDAH: The Makkah police on Sunday denied they received any reports about two children from Qatar who were reported lost in the area of the Grand Mosque 40 days ago.

Makkah police Maj. Abdul Mohsen Al-Maiman said neither his department nor the police responsible for the holy site have been notified of missing children.

Media reports say a Qatari citizen told authorities in his country that his son and daughter got lost in the mosque complex.

“The Qatari authorities then took the matter to the Saudi authorities and the issue was referred to investigators,” he said. The spokesman said investigations revealed that there were differences between the Qatari man and his wife after which the man left for his home leaving his wife and children behind.

“This was communicated to the Qatari authorities,” he said. The picture of the two alleged missing children Jasim and Reem were placed on a website which said they were the two Qatari children whose mother lost them in the area around the Haram more than a month ago when she came to perform Umrah. According to the site, the mother searched in vain the area around her residence and was assisted by a number of people who accompanied her on her Umrah trip.

The site said the mother informed the Makkah police that her children were missing.

Arab News asked the man who placed the picture of the two children on the Internet about his relationship with them. He said he “volunteered” to make the Web page after a Qatari lady named Um Mishaal informed him about the incident, gave him her telephone number in Qatar and asked him to report any information about the missing children to her.

On contacting Um Mishaal in Qatar, she told Arab News that she also “volunteered” to look for the two missing Qatari children, adding that the media in Qatar were closely following the issue. She also said the mother suffered a nervous breakdown and the father promised to give a big reward to whoever finds his two missing children.