Spain floods latest: Death toll at 211 and 5,000 more soldiers deployed as more rain expected in other regions
The number of those killed in catastrophic flash flooding in Spain has risen to at least 211, as police fear more bodies are hidden among the destruction and fresh weather warnings for rain prompt fears of further flooding.
In a televised statement on Saturday, prime minister Pedro Sanchez said the death toll has risen from 207 to 211. He added that 5,000 more army troops and 5,000 more police are being sent to the worst-affected region of Valencia.
“It is the biggest operation by the Armed Forces in Spain in peacetime,” Sanchez said. “The government is going to mobilize all the resources necessary as long as they are needed.”
A fresh weather alert was triggered in the Balearic Islands, Catalonia and Valencia, where rains are expected to continue during the weekend.
Officials said the death toll is likely to keep rising in what is already Spain’s worst flood-related disaster in modern history and the deadliest to hit Europe since the 1970s, with most of the deaths so far in Valencia, the eastern region that bore the brunt of the devastation.
