Spain sends more emergency services to the disaster area

Spain's government announced that it would be deploying a further 500 soldiers to the affected region from Friday to ensure the logistics and distribution of relief supplies.

"We had to clear out a supermarket to distribute food to the population," the mayor of Alfafar, Juan Ramón Adsuara, told the television station À Punt in the province of Valencia. In the municipality with 20,000 inhabitants, there are still people living with corpses in their homes. More than 1,200 soldiers are already involved in the rescue work.

Residents, volunteers and rescue services cleared mud, debris and washed away cars from the streets. The severe storms on Tuesday hit the Mediterranean region of Valencia in particular. In the province of the same name alone, 155 of the confirmed fatalities were reported. Other popular tourist regions on the Mediterranean such as Andalusia and Murcia as well as Castilla-La Mancha in the interior of the country were also affected.

Thefts from shopping centers and houses

Dozens of people are still missing, explained the Spanish Minister for Territorial Policy, Ángel Víctor Torres, after a meeting of the crisis committee. Due to the high number of fatalities, additional forensic experts would be brought into the disaster area and, if necessary, help would be requested from abroad.

Progress has been made in restoring the infrastructure and clearing blocked roads. However, the situation remains difficult, said the minister. Tens of thousands of households were still without electricity. After looting in stores and houses, the police would show more presence. According to media reports, electronic devices, jewelry and perfume, among other things, were stolen from shopping centers that were left unguarded after the disaster. According to the national police, 39 suspects have been arrested.