About 500 people could have died in Spain as a result of heavy rains and floods, the Español newspaper writes, citing sources.
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Earlier, Spanish Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said that the death toll had increased to 207 and would continue to rise. Earlier, Español, citing sources, noted that at least 250 people are considered missing.
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“Informal sources working on the placement (of the bodies) claim that the number of victims will soon reach 500,” the publication says.
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Emergency officials confirmed to Español that there were still many areas that had yet to be searched, such as flooded parking lots. They do not exclude that there may be many dead there.
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“We don’t know the exact number of missing people. We can’t imagine the scale of what we’re dealing with,” one firefighter working in Valencia said.
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On Friday, Spanish Defense Minister Margarita Robles said that an additional morgue had been set up in a flood-stricken area in eastern Spain for those killed in the disaster.
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The Spanish government has declared three days of official mourning for the victims of the rains and floods. The disaster has severely damaged road infrastructure in Valencia, the worst-hit region in eastern Spain, resulting in more than 60 road closures. The local agency Europa Press reported that electricity was gradually being restored in the province of Valencia. If on Wednesday 155 thousand houses were left without electricity, now there are only 40 thousand.
