Spain: two dead in flood and landslide

The north-west of Spain is bereaved by a natural disaster. Two people died in a flood and landslide on Saturday.

“The death of two women, aged approximately 60 and 80 respectively, has been confirmed,” said the Castile and León emergency services, after the disaster in the small village of Manzanedo de Valdueza. They added that two babies were treated for bruises and a third person reported missing – a man aged over 80 – “was found unharmed”.

A village devastated by mud

Firefighters, police, ambulances and members of the Civil Guard were dispatched to the scene, which images filmed from a rescue helicopter showed in the middle of hilly and wooded terrain. Local media showed images of a gray mass of stones and mud that devastated the village.

“Violent storms in the mountains unleashed a powerful flood of stones, mud and silt,” said the mayor of the neighboring town of Ponferrada, Marco Morala. The flood of mud also caused damage in the village of Bouzas, in the same region, according to this official.