Fears of ‘mass grave’ in flooded underground car park in Valencia as almost 2,000 still missing after disaster
A FLOODED underground car park in Valencia has sparked fears of a “mass grave” as almost 2,000 people are still missing across Spain.
The number of people killed by the floods has risen from 205 to 207 – and is expected to climb much higher.
The flooded underground shopping centre car park entrance has sparked fears firefighters will find a mass grave when they pump out the water.
Gut-wrenching images of Bonaire Shopping Centre near Valencia show escalators leading down to the basement car park underwater.
And it’s causing concern about the final death toll from one of Europe’s worst-ever natural disasters.
The sign above the floodwater reads ‘Bienvenido’ – ‘Welcome’ in English.
Workers at the centre were previously seen using fire extinguishers to desperately escape ground-floor stores after getting trapped in waist-high water.
It comes as:
- Flooded car park in Valencia sparks fears of a “mass grave”
- A hugely popular Spanish tourist hotspot goes into lockdown
- Moment a waterspout tornado lands during devastating floods
- Officials desperately try to rescue people caught in the disaster
- Devastated towns are plagued by looting
- Former Valencia player is killed in flash floods
Looters took advantage of the flooding on Tuesday to ransack shops there.
Across the country an unbelievable 64 people have been arrested for looting, with five men accused of robbing a flooded jewellery store, El Pais reports.
Today Bonaire, one of the country’s largest centres, would normally have been packed with Saturday shoppers after yesterday’s All Saints’ Day Bank Holiday.
Instead silence now reigns over the centre still closed following Tuesday’s disaster which left a devastating panorama of smashed store windows and mountains of mud-caked debris.
Washing machines and other domestic appliances were also left tossed around by the flood water and dumped on their sides.
Local press have described the current scenario there as “dantesque.”
One outlet said: “The most shocking scene is that of the escalators disappearing and sinking into the muddy pool the Bonaire underground car park has become.
“The brown water is still there.
“For sure there are dozens of unusable vehicles floating around.
“It remains to be seen whether there are also victims who were trapped, because in their attempts to escape many people tried to leave by taking their vehicles.”
Workers at the shopping centre say there were less people than normal there the day of the flooding because of a red weather alert.
But they have estimated the number in their high hundreds.
One local wrote on social media: “I was lucky enough to be able to get my car out of the underground car park because they told us to evacuate.
“When I drove mine out there were still people and around 30 cars. It makes me frightened to think what they’ll find when they drain it.”
Eduardo Martinez, who works at a clothes shop in the centre, said he had decided to leave his vehicle in the car park after evacuating and finding himself in waist-high water when he tried to drive home.
He explained that he opted to spend the night in one of the top-floor cinemas.
Eduardo told ElDiario.es: “Everything below ground-floor level is car parking and a security guard told me that when the water levels began to rise he warned people to seek safety on the upper levels of the shopping centre and not to go down for their cars but many of them ignored him.
“No-one knows for sure how many people there might still be down there. The car park is still flooded and they haven’t started pumping out the water.”
The number of people killed by the floods has risen from 205 to 207, according to Spanish interior minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska.
The total number of dead will likely climb much higher as more bodies are discovered with 1,900 people already registered as missing.
Speaking to Cadena SER, Grande-Marlaska confirmed: “It is reasonable to think that we will have more deaths.”
King Charles has said he is “heartbroken” by the catastrophic floods in a new message from the Royal Family.
In a heart-felt letter to Spain‘s Felipe XI on Saturday, the King wrote: “Your Majesty, My wife and I were utterly heartbroken to learn of the destruction and devastation following the catastrophic flooding in Southern and Eastern Spain.
“So many in the United Kingdom have strong, personal ties to Spain, and our nations are bound by so much that we have in common.
“We extend our most sincere and heartfelt condolences to you and to the people of Spain for the tragic loss of so many lives.
“Our special thoughts, prayers and deepest possible sympathy are with all those who have lost loved ones and livelihoods this terrible week. Charles R.”
It comes as a Spanish tourist hotspot has been placed on lockdown as the country prepares for more devastating floods – as 2,000 people have been reported missing in Valencia.
Palma, Majorca, is expected to take the brunt of the storm with homeless people being evacuated and tourists desperately urged to stay indoors.
The Balearic Island is preparing for a deluge with the main promenade in the city taped off and public buildings closed.
Videos have already emerged online of parts of Palma flooding with 120mm of rain forecast to fall in just three to four hours.
Palma’s first deputy mayor, Javier Bonet told locals to leave their homes only if “absolutely necessary”.
He said: “We are not on red alert, but it is essential to warn the population to avoid greater risks.”
Families are frantically trying to find their loved ones as time runs out and the region’s hospitals teeter on the “verge of collapse”.
Many bodies could be found in cars on secondary roads that have not yet been searched.
Experts have found new records within the horrific rainfall as around 42 litres of rain per square metre fell in just 10 minutes in one Valencian town.
This is equivalent to a whopping 1.7 inches of water.
Thousands of sodden, abandoned cars covered in brown sludge litter roads around Valencia after the flooding turned them to rivers.
Of those dead, a large proportion have been tragically found in Valencia, with rain also hitting other parts of the country including Andalusia and the Balearic Islands.
Yellow and orange warnings remain in place for parts of the Valencia region and Catalonia through the weekend.
A telephone number has been set up for locals to call in and register missing relatives with 1,900 already registered, el Diario reports.
On Thursday, 600 people who were registered as missing were found.
Officials are now going through the grim process of identifying the bodies – with a team of 100 forensic experts only solving 17 so far.
Search and rescue workers are going car-to-car as many people are thought to have drowned inside their motors as they returned from work when the flash floods hit.
The mayor of Chiva warned Thursday there were still “hundreds of cars turned upside down and they will surely have people inside them”.
Others were killed because they went down to move their cars, worried about flooding.
One survivor told the Telecinco TV channel: “There are almost certainly more people who have died because the water washed people away who had got out of their cars.”
Thousands of volunteers are travelling from the area to help with the cleanup and continue the search for bodies.
With some roads closed, huge queues of people are forming as they march into the disaster areas with brooms and shovels.
Soldiers are also on hand, with Spanish armed forces deploying another 750 soldiers to the Valencia region on Saturday – meaning 2,700 soldiers are to be on the ground in total.
Psychologists have also been sent by the government to help the survivors deal with the trauma of the event.
A whopping 64 people have now been arrested for looting, with five men accused of robbing a flooded jewellery store, according to El Pais.
Around 15,000 homes remain without electricity and railway services between Valencia and Barcelona have reopened.
As bodies are identified stories are emerging about who they were, including a 71-year-old Brit who died in hospital.
Among those tragically killed in the horrific flash floods is a former Valencia CF player.
The Spanish football club has paid tributes to José Castillejo, 28, a midfielder who also played for teams like Torre Levante, Paterna and Eldense.
It said in a statement: “We regret the death of José Castillejo, a victim of the Dana disasters.
“He was part of the club’s Academy until his youth stage and has played for several teams in the Valencian Community. RIP.”
The horrifically high death toll has sparked outrage among residents, with some accusing Spanish authorities of not warning people about the dangers posed by the weather soon enough.
Dramatic footage has been shared of how the flash floods in Valencia turned roads into rivers in a matter of minutes.
Shocking footage shared on social media by residents of the Spanish city and surrounding areas comes as the death toll for the disaster hits 205.
Two clips shared online show the speed at which the devastating flash floods took over the streets and gave inhabitants little to no time to flee.
An off-duty police officer from Benetusser revealed how he saved the lives of two of his neighbours with a rope made of bedsheets when the flash floods hit the region.
On Saturday thousands of volunteers gathered at the City of Arts and Sciences in Valencia to begin the massive clean up in the worst-hit areas of the city.
The number of people who registered to help is at over 100,000, according to the Valencian Community Volunteer Platform.
Why was Spain hit by flooding?
Spain was hit by flash floods after the east of the country was hit by a meteorological phenomena known as a ‘DANA’.
A DANA, or a ‘cold drop’ is technically a system where there is an isolated depression in the atmosphere is at high levels.
In layman’s terms, more warm and moist Mediterranean air than usual was sucked high into the atmosphere after a cold system hit the country from the south.
The easterly wind then pushed all those clouds and rain into eastern Spain.
Three to four months of rain fell in some places over the space of 24 hours.
The DANA system hit southern Spain as it arrived from Morocco yesterday and is now expected to head west over southern Portugal.