The number of fatalities caused by heavy rains and floods in southeastern Spain has risen to five. At various locations in Andalusia and the Region of Valencia were killed three more people, rescue workers said.
Already on Thursday, the bodies of a 61-year-old man and his 51-year-old sister had been discovered in a car swept away by water tides.
In the area of Redován, a village in the region of Valencia, according to a spokeswoman for the emergency services, the body of a man was found. Previously, the body of a 36-year-old was discovered by helicopter from the Andalusian villages of La Jamula and Salazar.
From the Andalusian city of Almería rescue workers reported that a man "middle-aged" drowned. He had been traveling in a car and trapped in a tunnel of water. According to the city administration, the tunnel was "flooded with immense volumes of water within a few minutes".
Almería Mayor Ramón Fernández-Pacheco told the Spanish radio station Cadena Ser that there were three people sitting in the flood-engulfed car. A police officer has been able to rescue two passengers from the vehicle.
The southeast of Spain has been hit by heavy rains since Wednesday. According to meteorologists, some places in the region have experienced the worst storms since weather records began in 1917. Many schools have closed, with around 700,000 students in the Valencia region alone.
3,500 people had to leave their homes
Spain's Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska spoke of a "serious situation". Around 3,000 rescue, police and army forces were in the disaster areas. More than 3,500 people had to leave their homes because of the thunderstorms and floods.
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... Que se lo digan a los guardias civiles (con muy buena ayuda) en #Alicante que se han dejado la piel para rescatar a una persona atrapada por agua en un de la horadada # ParaServirYProteger pic.twitter.com / qPYYMHq2U2
Grande-Marlaska traveled to the area to get a glimpse of the damage on a helicopter ride. 74 streets were closed on Friday due to flooding, led the Interior Ministry.
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Spain: worst thunderstorms since weather records beganThe airport of the southern Spanish city of Murcia was closed on Friday. 22 flights to Palma de Mallorca were redirected, informed the airport operator Aena. The regional airport of Almería was closed for several hours. Two flights had to be canceled and two more diverted. Also some train connections failed.
