Spanish rescue teams search mall parking for victims

Spanish rescue teams searched for victims in a flooded underground parking lot at the shopping mall in the town of Aldaia, near Valencia.

As searches in the parking lot continued, rescue teams said they had not yet found any casualties, the Cadena Ser radio station reported, citing national police.

Public anger is mounting over the disaster that has killed at least 217 people with dozens of others still unaccounted for.

Almost all deaths occurred in the Valencia region and more than 60 in the suburb of Paiporta.

The army sent about 5,000 soldiers over the weekend to help distribute food and water, clean up streets and guard against looters and a further 2,500 would join them, Defence Minister Margarita Robles told state-owned radio RNE.

Rescuers used drones and water pumps to search and clear underground car parks and garages.

They also scanned river mouths where currents may have deposited more bodies.

Spain's King Felipe met with Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and Defence Minister Margarita Robles Fernandez as the group joined an emergency meeting to discuss Valencia's deadly floods.

Sanchez guaranteed that the government "is ready" to send the authorities the resources they requested and announced that Spain has already begun "the procedures to request help from the European solidarity fund." Faced with the growing desperation of the population, which continues to search for their loved ones or cry out for water or food, Sánchez admitted being "aware that the response that is being given is not enough."

Locals criticized late alerts from authorities about the dangers and a perceived delayed response by emergency services.

After several affected residents denounced that "nothing is being done," the president announced on his X account the dispatch of 10,000 police and military forces for assistance.

It was the worst flood-related disaster in Europe in five decades. Scientists say extreme weather is more frequent due to climate change.