OVIEDO (Spain), Nov 1 – Search and rescue efforts continued in Spain on Thursday after an unprecedented storm killed at least 158 people and caused widespread destruction, Anadolu Agency reported.
According to the region’s government, at least 155 fatalities were recorded in Valencia, the hardest-hit area, with additional deaths reported in the provinces of Cuenca, Albacete, and Malaga.
Spanish Defense Minister Margarita Robles said authorities still cannot provide a precise figure but noted that ‘many people’ remain unaccounted for.
Around 1,000 soldiers were deployed on Thursday morning, and their main priority is finding the missing.
“We know that in places like Paiporta and Massanassa, there might be people in garages, in basements — people who went out to find their vehicles,” Robles said in an interview with the broadcaster Telecinco.
On Thursday morning, nine bodies were recovered in Valencia’s La Torre neighbourhood—eight in the same garage, according to the mayor. Local media, including El Mundo, reported that this brought the death toll to 104.
The worst of the storm hit Tuesday, when nearly a year’s worth of rain fell in a matter of hours, causing flash floods, river overflows, and streets in towns and cities to turn into powerful rivers.
The storm’s intensity caught thousands off guard. Many residents returning from work were quickly trapped in their vehicles, while others became stranded in homes, workplaces, restaurants, or shopping centres, desperately awaiting rescue as waters rose.
