Daily Times

Rescuers raised the death toll in Spain’s worst floods for a generation to 205 on Friday and fears grew for the dozens missing as hopes of finding survivors faded. The floods that have tossed vehicles, collapsed bridges and covered towns with mud since Tuesday are the European country’s deadliest such disaster in decades. The organisation coordinating emergency services in the hardest-hit eastern Valencia region said 202 people had been confirmed dead there. Officials in neighbouring Castilla-La Mancha and Andalusia in the south had already announced a combined three deaths in their regions. Rescuers equipped with helicopters, drones and sniffer dogs waded through water and rummaged through debris in search of dozens of people the authorities believe are still missing. The government has deployed another 500 troops to the stricken areas to bolster the 1,200 already on site for search, rescue and logistics tasks. Another 500 will be dispatched on Saturday. The Civil Guard alone had rescued more than 4,500 people as of Friday afternoon, Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said. But three days on from the disaster, hopes of finding more survivors are dwindling.