Raging Waters, Abandoned Cars, Layers of Mud: More Than 150 Killed in Spanish Floods
The New York Times
Others are still missing, though how many remains unclear. Rescuers feared finding more bodies, the defense minister said.
When some of the worst flash floods in decades in eastern Spain hit, Diego Hernandez was passing the city of Valencia on his way to his mother’s funeral.
As he and his wife drove on Tuesday night, a thin stream of muddy water started to appear under their tires. Soon, it was almost three feet high and nearing the top of their seats. Within seconds, another car had piled on top of theirs.
The couple fled their vehicle, initially hanging onto a tree as trash cans, car wheels, sofas and chairs streamed by in the raging floodwaters.
“It was like an apocalypse,” he said.
They were hardly alone. Thousands of people found themselves trapped — in cars, in trucks and in homes — as heavy rainfall pounded southern Spain this week.
The death toll jumped to at least 158 people on Thursday. Others are still missing, and rescuers feared finding more bodies, said Margarita Robles, Spain’s defense minister, as teams dug into the mud.
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Rescuers in Paiporta, where more than 60 people died, were still pulling bodies from the mud. “We are alive,” a resident said. “But we have lost everything.”
Others are still missing, though how many remains unclear. Rescuers feared finding more bodies, the defense minister said.