Body found in hunt for three lost in river

8 September 2004

TARAGONA –Search teams found the body of a man who could be one of the three people who were washed away in heavy rains, authorities said Wednesday.

The body was found in the Delta de Ebro estuary at the mouth of Spain’s biggest river.

But tests were being carried out to see if it is one of the three people who disappeared when torrential rain swept their car into a river.

Their Land Rover was swept into the River l’Orregueral, in Cambrils near Tarragona in Catalonia, north-east Spain during heavy rains Monday night.

The river is close to the Delta de Ebro.

A 14-year-old had gone in search of help but when he returned with firefighters, the three others and the Land Rover had disappeared.

Meanwhile, heavy rains left seven roads in Zaragoza and Navarra, in eastern and north-west Spain blocked Wednesday.

In many parts of the country, people were trying to repair flood damage caused by the heavy rains.

The heavy rain and electrical storms caused 20 flights to be diverted from Barcelona airport.

Flights were diverted to Palma de Majorca, Girona and Valencia, but not to nearby Reus airport at Tarragona as the rain was too heavy.

In Navarra in north-west Spain, heavy rains caused flooding, stopping traffic on many main roads.

The town of Cortes, which was cut off, was the most seriously affected.

Javier Blasco, mayor of Cortes which has 3,000 people, said: “The situation is catastrophic. We cannot use the roads because there is a metre of water like a torrential river.”

An old-people’s home was cut off and they were left without any food for residents.

Other roads which were badly effected by heavy rains included the main routes between Pamplona and Tudela and between Caparroso and Los Abetos as well as many smaller roads.

In Castellón, in north-east Spain, heavy raining also stopped training at the ground of the football club Villarreal when there was a power-cut.

[Copyright EFE with Expatica]

Subject: Spanish news