Cars became death traps – that’s why the floods in Spain claimed so many lives

Three days have passed since the storm arrived and submerged large parts of southeastern Spain. Rescue efforts are still ongoing, and the number of confirmed deaths is rising with each passing day.

At the moment, there are therefore no further details about how the victims of the disaster died, but a pattern can be discerned from the statements of rescue personnel, authorities and witnesses. They describe how cars were swept away with the drivers still behind the wheel, and how garages suddenly turned into death traps.

– There are dead people in the cars they pull out. A father with his wife and child. Entire families. It’s a disaster, says a woman in Valencia as she watches the emergency services search through a pile of completely destroyed cars.

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