Spain floods: Valencia death toll mounts as EU offers help – DW – 10/30/2024

Spain’s King Felipe VI has voiced his desolation and worry about the situation in Valencia, Castilla-La Mancha, and Andalusia.

In a video posted on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, the monarch said he had been in contact with local leaders, as well as Spain’s interior minister.

“The main thing is to express condolences and sadness for the loss of so many human lives. There has also been enormous destruction of infrastructure and material goods of very many people,” said the king, speaking from the Gando Air Base in Gran Canaria. 

“There are still difficulties accessing some, therefore there is still no complete information about the impact, about the scope of the effects, including the possible victims.”

“In any case, it reassures me that all available wherewithal is available to the authorities, to the emergency services.”

At least 63 people have died in eastern Spain in the worst natural disaster to hit the country in recent memory.

Emergency services in the southeastern region of Valencia have confirmed a death toll of 62 people just after noon local time on Wednesday, up from 51 earlier in the day.

Meanwhile, the central government office for Castilla La Mancha region confirmed that an 88-year-old woman was found dead in Cuenca province.

The death toll appeared to be Europe’s worst from flooding since 2021, when at least 185 people died in Germany.

The prime minister of Spain’s Iberian neighbor Portugal, Luis Montenegro, expressed his country’s “greatest regret” and “solidarity with all the Spanish people.” 

In a message on X, he offered “all necessary help.”

European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen says Brussels stands “ready to help” Spain in its moment of crisis.

“What we are seeing is devastating,” von der Leyen told a news conference. “We have activated our Copernicus satellite system to help coordinate the rescue teams, and we have already offered to activate our civil protection mechanism.”

A landslide triggered by the heavy rainfall caused a high-speed train with nearly 300 people on board to derail near Malaga on its way to Madrid.

Although were 291 passengers on board, rail officials said none were hurt.

Spain’s national rail operator, RENFE, also said it had suspended all rail services in the Valencia region “until the situation returns to normal for the safety of passengers.”

Among the routes affected were the high-speed train service between Valencia city and Madrid, plus several commuter lines.

Speaking from Spain, DW reporter Nicole Ris said the devastation wreaked by the floods had exacerbated the challenge facing rescuers.

“Communications have broken down, streets, and motorways have been washed away,” said Ris. “Bridges are gone because of these masses of water.”

“They’re trying to rescue people with helicopters and you can imagine that, while this is effective, it’s slower than being able to access via streets through the towns with vehicles. This really is a problem for them.”

At least 52 people have been killed as a result of Spain’s flash flooding, with all but one of the fatalities reported so far in the southeastern region of Valencia. 

The number is expected to rise after heavy rain roads and towns under water.

The “provisional number of dead is at 51 people”, Valencia’s regional emergency services wrote on X, adding that bodies were still being recovered and identified.

The rains also claimed a life in the Spanish community of Castilla-La Mancha, where an 88-year-old woman has died in Mira in Cuenca province.

rc/lo (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)