The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs is currently unaware of any French victims among the 213 deaths following the floods which affected the south-east of Spain this week. A report which may change as the search for the missing continues.
A count which is only provisional. On BFMTV this Sunday, November 3, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Christophe Lemoine declared that “to date, the Spanish authorities have not reported any French victims to us” among the 213 deaths already recorded following the floods. which affected the south-east of Spain this week.
However, this is an “extremely evolving situation”, he said, since many people remain missing and the search continues.
Number of missing still unknown
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is also unable to give a figure concerning the French people affected by these floods, whether they are missing, injured, displaced… “The Valence region is an extremely touristy region so potentially, there are a lot of French people who could have been there,” said Christophe Lemoine, who adds that France is “in contact with the Spanish authorities.”
Five days after this bad weather, which caused the worst natural disaster in the country's history according to the government, searches continue to find the missing, clear the roads and restore the infrastructure destroyed by the torrents of mud.
“It is very difficult to give a precise figure (of missing people) since we are talking about disaster areas in which telephone or internet communication is very complex,” underlined the related member Ensemble pour la République Stéphane Vojetta on BFMTV on Saturday.
“We have the contact details of a certain number of French people who reside in these areas” and “we write to them, we leave them messages, but they do not respond to us in the vast majority,” added the deputy for French people established outside from France.
More rain on Sunday
King Felipe VI and Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez are traveling to southeastern Spain on Sunday, where further heavy rains are expected. A red alert was also issued by the Spanish meteorological agency Aemet for the province of Almeria, in Andalusia (south), due to “torrential rain”. This precipitation is likely to cause “floods”, according to Aemet, which recommends that residents only travel if “strictly necessary”.
According to the latest report released on Saturday evening by the authorities, 213 people died due to the floods. The vast majority of them (210) died in the Valencia region, with two other victims having been reported in Castile-la-Mancha and a third in Andalusia.
Flood in Spain: what weather phenomena caused this disaster?
Authorities expect the toll to rise as car wrecks piled up in tunnels and underground parking lots in the worst-hit areas are now methodically examined. The overall number of missing people remains unknown at this stage.
France offered to help Spain this week by sending firefighters, according to Christophe Lemoine. “The Spanish authorities have not responded to this at the moment,” the spokesperson said. The latter invited the French on site to “follow the instructions of the Spanish authorities”. If necessary, the French embassy in Spain has opened a telephone line for French people “in situations of distress”, according to Christophe Lemoine. This number is 00 34 900 365 112.
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