Spain: at least 93 people still missing after deadly floods

At least 93 people are still missing after floods swept through southeastern Spain eight days ago, according to a newest official account released yesterday, Wednesday, by the judiciary in Valencia.

The night before last Tuesday, a higher court said 89 people were wanted after the devastating floods and landslides left at least 219 dead, mostly in Valencia, based on accounts released by local and national authorities.

In a later statement released last night, the same court informed that four more disappearances were officially recorded by the police and gendarmerie, bringing to 93 the number of people wanted.

That number “may increase or decrease depending on new identifications of people who have died, new reports of disappearances, or sightings of people who are alive,” he explained.

On the ground, search operations continued yesterday, mainly in underground car parks and streams in suburban Valencia, the area hit hardest by the floods and landslides.

The 15,000 military and police officers deployed in the area also continued to participate in the work of removing debris and clearing roads and infrastructure that had been destroyed so that they could either be reopened to traffic or restored.

Faced with the scale of the disaster, Pedro Sanchez’s government announced €10.6 billion in emergency aid the day before yesterday (Tuesday), both to provide direct assistance to flood-affected residents and businesses and to finance municipalities’ rehabilitation projects.

Yesterday Wednesday, the European Investment Bank (EIB), which has been headed since January by former Spanish Economy Minister Nadia Calvino, announced €900 million in financial aid for reconstruction.

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