The sea and the Albufera nature reserve are currently the main locations of the search for the missing after the flood caused by the DANA. In the meantime, family members broadcast images of their loved ones and ask for help.
Eight days after one of the worst natural disasters in Europe in recent years, those responsible for the rescue operation suspect that the vast majority of bodies still to be recovered have already reached the sea.
Divers from the Guardia Civil (GEAS) underwater activity group are leading the search. Volunteers, municipal police, firefighters and civil protection services from all over Spain are searching and cooperating.
Drones, helicopters and dogs
The emergency services are looking with helicopters and drones, sometimes with infrared cameras. Especially in the area of the Magro River and the Rambla del Poyo, which is supplemented by sniffer dogs. More than 1,700 firefighters from 42 organisations and 6,700 soldiers have been deployed on the ground. This number that will increase to 7,800 in the next few hours, as Emergencias de la Generalitat reported.
Dogs from the canine unit, trained to detect human remains, are also participating in the operation—even the dogs of the special protection service of the Royal Family.
Also read: Flood recovery efforts
The sea
It is likely the bodies ended up in the sea. That is why maritime traffic has been restricted in recent days. The research vessel Ramón Margalef of the Spanish Institute of Oceanography (IEO-CSIC) will also come to the area. The ship is equipped with technology that allows the seabed to be explored very accurately and in great detail. It will arrive in Valencia in the next few days.
Data Integration Centre
While the emergency response teams continue to search for the missing, the Ciutat de la Justícia in Valencia is where the Data Integration Centre (CID) meets, an exclusive technical body made up of forensic experts and specialised agents from the Guardia Civil and the Policia Nacional. They are responsible for compiling and supervising the reports on the identification of fatalities. Furthermore, they are the only ones authorised to provide official figures to the media.
Number of deaths
In the latest update of these official figures, on Wednesday evening, the death toll was estimated at 199. That is lower than the previously mentioned 211 deaths. On Wednesday evening, the newspaper La Vanguardia asked the head of communications of the Supreme Court of Valencia about this change in the figures. The spokesperson reiterated that the only official body accredited to update the number of deaths daily is the CID. Until Wednesday evening, the number of fatalities by the DANA in Valencia was 199. The bodies have all undergone autopsies. This figure corresponds to that of competent sources of the national police consulted by La Vanguardia.
Development of fatality figures
On Tuesday, the data integration centre gave the first figure of 89 missing persons, which had risen to 93 on Wednesday. These are not necessarily bodies killed by the DANA in Valencia. These are not necessarily bodies that have not yet been recovered, because in the morgue of the Fira de València, 54 bodies still had to be identified on Tuesday evening. Two more bodies were recovered yesterday in Letur, bringing the number of victims in Castilla-la Mancha to seven, in addition to the death in Andalucia.