Spain searches for bodies after unprecedented flooding claims at least 158 lives
LA TimesCrews searched for bodies in stranded cars and sodden buildings Thursday as people tried to salvage what they could from their ruined homes following devastating flash floods in Spain that claimed at least 158 lives, with 155 deaths confirmed in the eastern Valencia region alone. “Unfortunately, there are dead people inside some vehicles,” Spain’s Transport Minister Oscar Puente said early Thursday before the death toll rose sharply from 95 late Wednesday night. “I went with the local police but we had to turn back because a tsunami of water, mud, reeds and dirt was already entering the town.” Mari Carmen Pérez said by phone from Barrio de la Torre, a suburb of Valencia city, that her phone buzzed with the flood warning after the rushing water had already forced open the front door and filled the first floor, forcing her family to flee upstairs. The people here, we have never seen anything like this.” Valencia regional President Carlos Mazón defended his administration’s management of the crisis, saying, “All our supervisors followed the standard protocol.” Saiz, Wilson and Medrano write for the Associated Press and reported from Barrio de la Torre, Barcelona and Madrid, respectively.