Flash floods in south-eastern Spain kill at least five

At least five people have been killed and some 3,500 evacuated in two days of torrential rains in southeast Spain, with many roads, railways and an airport closed on Friday.

A total of 74 roads were closed, as was the entire Murcia regional railway service, and the Murcia airport. The railway link between Alicante and Spain’s two main cities – Madrid and Barcelona – was shut, acting interior minister Fernando Grande Marlaska said, calling the floods “a serious tragedy”.

In addition to some 1,500 people evacuated earlier, another 2,000 residents of the town of Santomera in Murcia were removed from their homes pre-emptively due to a controlled release from a local dam to avoid its overflowing, the interior minister said.



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