BERLIN — Emergency services are searching for several missing people after a sudden flood swept away a bridge in southern Germany.

Witnesses said that a number of people were carried away by floods when the wooden bridge they were standing on suddenly collapsed after heavy rain.

German police said that a major rescue operation with about 150 police officers, firefighters, and mountaineers was under way on Monday.

At least eight people had been pulled out of the water in Bavaria’s Höllentalklamm ("Valley of Hell") near the Austrian border.

"It must be assumed that people are still missing," spokesman Stefan Sonntag from the Upper Bavaria police headquarters.

Germany's DPA news agency has reported that at least two more people were missing on Monday night.

The incident came just weeks after 200 people died in deadly floods in western Germany in July.

The Höllentalklamm — located near Germany’s tallest mountain, Zugspitze — is a popular destination for hikers from across the country and abroad. — Euronews