Three feared dead in flash floods

A hunt for a man and a 17-year-old girl was under way yesterday after a car was swept into a river by flash floods. The body of another occupant of the car, thought to be in his twenties, was found by the emergency services in Zennor, Cornwall.

A fourth man escaped from the Volvo saloon as it filled with flood water in the early hours of yesterday morning, and raised the alarm.

The car was washed away in flood water after heavy rain, between St Ives and St Just. Firefighters, coastguard teams, police and a Royal Navy helicopter from RNAS Culdrose are involved in the search for the missing persons. About an hour later, a green Volvo S70 saloon was found submerged and full of water.

The search is continuing and police have asked anyone involved in the incident, who may have left the scene, to contact them. Mike Hindley of Zennor parish council said: "It was freak conditions. Everywhere looked like a river."