VALENCIA (Spain), Nov 3 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Spain’s King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia are due Sunday to visit the Valencia region, Spanish media reported, where devastating floods have killed more than 200 people.
Hopes of finding survivors ebbed five days after torrents of muddy water wrecked towns and infrastructure in Spain’s worst such disaster in decades.
Almost all the deaths have been in the Valencia region, where thousands of security and emergency services frantically cleared debris and mud in the search for bodies.
Describing “the worst natural disaster in the recent history of our country,” Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said it was the second deadliest flood in Europe this century.
Sanchez said electricity had been restored to 94 percent of homes affected by power outages and that around half of the cut telephone lines had been repaired.
Regional leader Carlos Mazon called the floods “the worst moment in our history” on Saturday and laid out a series of proposals to help his region recover, ranging from infrastructure to economic support.
He is due to visit flood-hit areas along with the royals and Sanchez on Sunday, Spanish news agency EFE reported.
Emergency services late Saturday issued an updated of toll of 213 people confirmed killed — 210 in the Valencia region, two in neighbouring Castilla-La Mancha and one in Andalusia in the south.
Authorities have warned the toll could yet rise, as vehicles trapped in tunnels and underground car parks are cleared. — NNN-AGENCIES
