Bodies of missing Spanish boys found two weeks after flash floods

A new storm warning has put the Valencia region on a fresh alert since Tuesday night

Two weeks on and volunteers are still helping to clean up the flood damage. | Jorge Zapata

Inti Landauro13/11/2024 13:02

The bodies of two young brothers who went missing in floods that struck Spain's eastern Valencia region two weeks ago have been found, the Guardia Civil confirmed today, Wednesday. Ruben and Izan Matias Calatayud, aged 3 and 5, were found in separate locations near Catarroja, almost 10 km (6 miles) downstream from their home in Torrent, a suburb of Valencia city, where they went missing when the floods hit on Oct. 29, a Guardia Civil spokesperson said.

Their aunt Barbara Sastre told Spain's state TVE last week that the boys' mother was working in Valencia and their father was with them at the family home when the flood hit at 6:30 p.m. The sound of the water running through the streets had frightened the children and their father moved them to the living room to calm them down when the water burst through the wall, she said.

"The three of them were dragged out," she told TVE. Their father - whose name has not been confirmed - tried to cling on to them but they were swept away by the tide of water, state news agency EFE reported. He survived by grabbing hold of a tree, TVE added, and remained there for four hours before being rescued, having suffered serious injuries.

Sastre told TVE that the wait for news had left the family "destroyed". "It's been many days and they are very small," she said. "We know that they are looking for them and there are search parties every day." Rescue teams searching for people missing from the storm have intensified their efforts in nearby ravines and the Albufera wetlands as well as at sea using specialist search boats.

As of Tuesday, authorities confirmed a total of 223 people dead so far in the Oct. 29 floods, while 17 remained missing. A new storm warning has put the Valencia region on a fresh alert since Tuesday night, along with other areas along the Spanish coast including the southern city of Malaga.
Emergency services have moved some people from homes at high risk of flooding, asked citizens to move to higher ground, while classes have been suspended in Malaga, Valencia and some municipalities of Catalonia.