Anger is being felt in Spain as the toll from the floods, having left at least 217 dead, could rise. In Aldaia, near Valencia, the underground parking lot of a shopping center, still inaccessible, is causing concern among families while many people are still missing.
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Water pumped for days
Rescue teams are at work around the underground car park of the Bonaire shopping center in Aldaia, near Valencia, which remains inaccessible since floods hit the area this week. Authorities fear there could be casualties.
Dredging work continued as the underground parking lot was filled with water and mud.
According to the newspaper The Country rescue teams hope to begin entering the underground parking lot no earlier than Sunday night, after four days of pumping.
The car park includes a total of 5,700 spaces, of which around 2,800 are in the two basement levels of the building.
“It’s an uncertainty, we could have very bad news”the mayor of Aldaia had earlier declared to the agency EFEwithout estimating a potential number of victims.
First inspections
A spokesperson for the Military Emergency Unit (UME) deployed at the scene, told media that water and mud still cover one and a half meters in the underground car park while the level was initially four meters .
According to the newspaper The Provinces the national police were able to carry out a first superficial inspection by drone on Sunday evening. This was able to inspect the first 19 vehicles near the surface, in which no victims had been found.
“When we can, we will be ready to do whatever is necessary”assured the lieutenant of the UME, Escrivano Domingo, cited by Newspaper of Tarragona .
The authorities do not know how many cars or how many victims could be there, reports the Spanish newspaper.
The authorities have also called for reservations. The Minister of Transport, Óscar Puente, called for avoiding “mere speculation” on the number of victims, emphasizing that many rumors circulating “are not true”.
No casualties had yet been confirmed as of Sunday evening.
