Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced on Saturday the sending of 10,000 additional soldiers and police officers to the south-east of Spain to come to the aid of the victims and help in the search for the missing, four days after the floods which left least 211 dead.
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The bad weather that occurred during the night from Tuesday to Wednesday “caused the greatest natural disaster in the recent history of our country”, underlined the head of government during an institutional declaration after a meeting of the crisis committee on flooding . And this is especially true since the results are still provisional, particularly regarding the number of missing people.
Rescuers expect to find additional victims, particularly in the carcasses of cars overturned by the torrents of mud, which still litter the parking lots and streets of the most affected localities.
To deal with this situation, Pedro Sanchez announced the sending of 5,000 additional soldiers, as requested by the regional government of Valencia. This figure brings the total number of soldiers deployed on the ground to 7,000. Nearly 5,000 additional police and gendarmes will also be sent to the affected areas. “ I am aware that the response given is not sufficient, I know that there are serious problems and shortcomings “, also declared the Prime Minister, during a solemn declaration from the Moncloa Palace, while criticism against the lack of responsiveness of the authorities has not abated.
But the executive’s priority remains the search for the missing and the reopening of the roads to allow “ delivery » aid and recovery of « essential services “, by clearing vehicles and rubble that prevent traffic, assured Mr. Sánchez. In an interview with the daily El Pais, the Minister of Transport, Oscar Puente, recognized that many localities had “ serious communication difficulties because the network is practically destroyed “.
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