Spain deploys 7,500 soldiers to flood zones

2024-11-04 20:45:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Some 7,500 military forces are being deployed to the region hit by devastating floods, the Spanish government announced on Monday, as discontent grew over the response to the disaster that has killed at least 217 people.

The army deployed over the weekend about 5,000 soldiers to help distribute food and water, clean the streets and protect shops and property from looters. About 2,500 more soldiers would be sent in the future, Defense Minister Margarita Robles told state radio channel RNE.

A warship carrying about 104 infantry soldiers and trucks of food and water was approaching the port of Valencia as a fierce hailstorm battered Barcelona, ??some 300 kilometers to the north.

Spain deploys 7,500 soldiers to flood zones

Search and rescue teams continued Monday to search for bodies of victims in underground garages around a parking lot for nearly 5,000 cars in the Bonaire shopping center near Valencia airport, as well as in river mouths where the bodies of the dead may have been collected.

The death toll from the deadliest floods in Spain's modern history reached 217 on Sunday - almost all in the Valencia region and more than 60 of them in the outskirts of the city of Paiporta.

Residents' anger focused on late notifications by authorities about flood risks and the perceived slow response of emergency services.

On Sunday, some residents in Paiporta threw mud at Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, King Felipe and his wife Queen Letizia, shouting: "murderers, murderers!".

Transport Minister Oscar Puente said on Sunday that the death toll has stabilized, as all the victims found on the surface have been identified.

Spain deploys 7,500 soldiers to flood zones

Torrential rains on Tuesday and Wednesday caused rivers to swell, flooding streets and first floors of buildings, taking cars and building walls with them in waves of mud.

These were the most devastating floods in Europe in the last five decades.

Although rainfall continued for the rest of the week, there was no new massive flooding in the area. The weather agency issued a warning on Monday morning for Barcelona as a storm of hail and heavy rain battered Spain's second-largest city.

Some of Sunday's protesters wore clothing bearing the symbols of far-right organizations that often hold protests against left-wing governments. Defense Minister Robles said that the situation was being used politically by extremist groups./ VOA