Floods have ravaged southeastern Spain, killing at least 72 people. Among the people there, Christine Zamarreno has been stuck in a store since late Tuesday afternoon.
Christine Zamarreno will remember her visit to the Ikea store in Valencia. This French woman is still stuck in the business since Tuesday, October 29 at the end of the afternoon. The cause is the floods which have affected the south-east of Spain since the start of the week and which have caused the death of at least 72 people, according to the latest report from rescuers.
On BFMTV, this French woman talks about what she has experienced in recent hours, after spending the night in the store while being separated from her partner. “We got a message that we had to evacuate the cars from the ground floor and take them to the parking lot. My husband came down and was carried away by the current. He spent a large part of the night hanging on the roof of the car, hanging from a lamppost,” she says.
“People on the roofs of stores shouting for help”
For her part, Christine Zamarreno remained in Ikea. “The staff who brought out mattresses and blankets,” continues the Frenchwoman.
“We had to wait for the water to drop a little so that the men could go out with ropes to collect the survivors. My husband was rescued by another company at 3 a.m. We were able to meet again this morning,” says she said from the store.
The night was distressing for Christine Zamarreno who explains that “it was really panic because the water rose to more than two meters”. “There were cars on warning, people on the roofs of stores shouting for help. And honestly, I haven’t seen any firefighters yet,” she worries. “I understood that there were disaster towns. So finally in a store it’s okay. We have blankets but we will soon run out of water.”
This Wednesday afternoon, the situation is still complex for the Frenchwoman and the customers stuck alongside her: “I think there is only one road that has been freed, there is no transport, We are advised not to leave the shopping center.”
Faced with this catastrophe, the Spanish government has declared three days of national mourning starting October 31. For his part, Emmanuel Macron declared that France has made “civil security” and “rescue” aid available to Spain.
