The day after a chaotic day, during which an angry crowd greeted with insults and mud throwing the visit of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and the King of Spain Felipe VI to one of the most affected localities, the priority remains the location of the missing and the identification of the bodies in Spain this Tuesday.
More than 200 victims recorded
According to a latest report, at least 217 people died in these floods: 213 in the Valencia region alone, three in Castile-la-Mancha, where the lifeless body of a septuagenarian was discovered this Sunday, twelve kilometers away. from the place of his disappearance, and one in Andalusia.
The authorities, however, continue to repeat that the final number of victims could be higher, while an unspecified number of residents are still missing and many underground car parks, completely flooded, have not been flooded. yet been fully inspected.
The Minister of Transport Oscar Puente explained this Sunday that the emergency services had explored as a priority “the more accessible areas” located “on the surface” but that “there are still flooded ground floors, basements and parking lots” where “dead people” could be found.
“It can be terrible”
The authorities are particularly concerned by the situation of the underground car park in Bonaire, the commercial center of Aldaia, a town of 31,000 inhabitants in the suburbs of Valencia. With a capacity of 5,700 places, almost half of which are underground, the latter is completely flooded.
Images broadcast on television and on social networks show the access ramp to the underground filled with muddy water, where numerous debris are floating. The escalators located inside the shopping center are also completely submerged.
“The shopping center is devastated in its upper part. And down there is a terrible unknown. We are not sure what we will find,” Aldaia Mayor Guillermo Lujan told public television TVE. “We want to be careful” but “it can be terrible”.
Flights diverted and train traffic suspended in Barcelona
In recent days, the personnel of the Military Emergency Unit (UME), which intervenes during natural disasters, have installed numerous pumps to begin to evacuate the water. Divers have managed to penetrate the underground, without spotting any bodies so far.
In the localities most affected by the floods, anger and distress still prevail, six days after the tragedy. Many streets remain clogged with piles of cars, mud and trash, and homes without telephones or electricity.
Monday morning, the Spanish meteorological agency (Aemet) assured that the “meteorological crisis” situation had ended in the Valencia region. On the other hand, it placed Barcelona and its metropolitan area, 350 kilometers further north, on red alert, where torrential rains began to fall.
In the greater Barcelona area, commuter train traffic was suspended and a crisis committee established at Barcelona-El Prat international airport, where around fifteen flights were diverted, according to the authorities.
Due to the poor state of the roads and still rainy weather, which led the meteorological agency to place part of the region on orange alert, the authorities maintained traffic restrictions on several axes on Monday. Valencia schools will remain closed all day.
