Floods in Spain: Gruesome details emerge about how Valencia victims died

CNN
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The full horror of Spain’s flash floods began to emerge on Friday, just as new rainfall lashed southern parts of the country.

The storm has killed at least 205 people, including 202 in the worst-hit region of Valencia, emergency services in the region said on Friday.

It marks Spain’s deadliest natural disaster in decades.

The death toll is expected to rise as rescuers fight to rescue those trapped and recover bodies. Authorities warned on Friday that roads in some areas have collapsed and emergency services can no longer gain access.

The country has experienced significant autumn storms in recent years, but nothing comes close to the devastation caused in recent days.

More details are emerging about the devastation in the Valencia region, with residents reporting large amounts of damage and horrific encounters with the rapidly rising waters. In the region’s capital, Valencia, a courthouse was converted into a temporary morgue.

In the city’s La Torre district, where water rose to chest height, volunteers continue to search for more missing people.

Rescue teams discovered the bodies of seven people in an underground parking garage there on Thursday, national broadcaster RTVE said, citing police.

The father of one of the victims in the parking garage, a local police officer, told Spain El Mundo newspaper that residents had rushed to move their cars, but the water rose faster than people expected, leaving them stranded. Another woman was swept into the parking lot by the moving water and died, he said.

The town of Paiporta, Valencia, where at least 62 people died, was described by Spanish public broadcaster RTVE as the ‘ground zero of the tragedy’.

A witness caught there by the flash flood told RTVE he saw several cars floating past him with people pleading for help. Many motorists became stuck on a highway and were swept away in their cars as the road appeared to merge with a nearby river. A bridge also collapsed in the area.

At least six people died in a nursing home on the outskirts of the city, the mayor of Paiporta told the Spanish national broadcaster. Although staff managed to get most of the elderly to the first floor, they could not save everyone.

In many areas the streets are still filled with mud. The mayor of Valencia shared images of clean-up efforts in the community on Friday. “Vehicles are being removed, the square is being cleaned and food and water are being collected,” Mayor María José Catalá said of La Torre.

Parts of Spain continue to experience heavy rainfall on Friday and authorities overnight issued a red warning for the coast of Huelva, in Andalusia, where 140 mm (5.5 inches) of rainfall fell in just 12 hours. Orange and yellow warnings also remain in force in remote parts of Valencia.