At least nine people have been killed and several others are missing after torrential rain lashed the Spanish island of Mallorca.

Footage broadcast on Spanish television on Wednesday showed cars being swept away by raging, muddy waters, houses flooded and vehicles piled one on top of the other after the Mediterranean island was pounded with heavy rain over just a few hours.

The downpours triggered major flash floods, which hurtled through streets in the eastern parts of the island.

A spokesperson for the Spanish government's office in the Balearic Islands told AFP news agency that nine people died in the floods.

 

Two of those killed were in Sant Llorenc, one in Arta and two more in S'Illot. The latter were two British tourists who were in a taxi which was swept away by flood water. The driver is still missing.

One of the fatalities is reported to be the ex-major of Arta, Rafael Gili.

The emergency services say their current priority is searching for those missing.

At least 220 millimetres of rain are believed to have fallen in the region, flooding homes, roads and fields. Dozens of cars were destroyed after being swept away by flood water.

Hundreds of people spent the night in emergency shelters and schools remain closed on Wednesday.

The damage is expected to run to the millions of dollars.

The torrential rain also brought flooding to the city of Barcelona on the Spanish mainland.

The trigger of the severe weather was an intense area of low pressure, which also brought flooding to the city of Barcelona on the Spanish mainland.

The thunderstorms are still circulating in the region and further torrential rain is expected on Wednesday and Thursday, with southern France and northwest Italy being most at risk of flooding.</s>Image caption Rescue workers in Majorca are searching for a missing child

The search continues for missing people following flash flooding in parts of Spain, Italy and France.

Twelve died - including a British couple - when torrential rain lashed eastern Majorca in Spain. An eight-year-old local boy is still missing.

Three Germans and a Dutch woman were among those who lost their lives.

A flash flood on France's south coast killed two people in Sainte-Maxime while a woman was found dead after a storm in Sardinia, Italy.

Image caption The two British victims were found in this taxi, which had been swept away

Looters

The two British victims of the Majorca floods were named as Anthony and Delia Green, a pair of holidaymakers in their 70s, from Moffat in Dumfries and Galloway.

They were discovered in their submerged taxi, which had been swept away in Sillot, near the tourist town of Sant Llorenç. The body of the taxi driver was discovered nearby.

Image copyright EPA Image caption Homes in Sant Llorenç suffered heavy flood damage

Police in Sant Llorenç say they are dealing with many incidents of looting and have increased patrols.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has said it will take months to return the disaster-hit towns to normality.

More than 100 rescue workers searched through the night for the missing eight-year-old boy. He is believed to have been in a car with his mother, who is among the victims.

His sister, who was also in the car, survived and was rescued.

The world's number one tennis player, Rafael Nadal, has opened the doors of his tennis academy in Manacor, near Sant Llorenç, and was photographed taking part in the clean-up effort as a volunteer.

Nadal was born in Manacor. He tweeted his condolences to victims' families, calling it a "sad day for Majorca".

Swept away

In southern France the rise of the River Garonnette in Saint-Maxime swept five cars towards the nearby sea.

Two bodies were found in one of the cars, which had been tossed upside down in the water.

Saint-Maxime lies in the Var region, where local authorities had urged people not to take to the flooded roads and to seek shelter during the heavy rainfall.

According to the BFMTV news site, 210mm (8in) of rain fell on Wednesday night - two months' worth of normal rainfall.

Bridge down

In Italy, the Cagliari area of Sardinia was also hit by bad weather, and one woman was found dead on Thursday. Her car had got trapped by the flooding.

Italian news agency Ansa named her as 45-year-old Tamara Maccario and said she and her family had left their home near a river over fear of the impending floodwater. The vehicle was swept away at about midnight on Wednesday.

Image copyright AFP / Guardia de Finanza Image caption Aerial footage showed the extent of damage to the roads in Italy

Ansa reports that one of the woman's daughters was found clinging to a tree, while two other children and their father were found in two separate homes nearby.

Ms Maccario's body was found on Thursday morning. Another man was also reported missing.

Large parts of Cagliari remain underwater, demonstrated in a video posted by Italian firefighters.

Roads and bridges have also been damaged.

Dozens of people have been evacuated, and several roads have been closed due to either collapse or dangerously high water levels.</s>EL PAÍS

El tenista serbio Novak Djokovic, que se encuentra en Shanghái jugando el Masters 1000 de tenis, ha difundido un mensaje de solidaridad a través de Twitter.

"Hola, buenos días. Soy Novak Djokovic, desde Shanghái, en China. Me ha llegado la noticia de las noticias devastadoras de las inundaciones en Mallorca y quiero mandar mis condolencias a todo aquel que haya perdido a alguien cercano en su familia, familiares, amigos. Quiero mandar mis mejores deseos, fuerza y buena energía a todo el mundo para que superen esto. No puedo imaginar lo difícil que es sobre todo para la gente para la gente que ha sido más afectada. Les mando un gran abrazo y un recuerdo amistoso a Rafa Nadal. Bien hecho, amigo, por ayudar. Quiereo inivitar a todo el mundo que ve esto y sigue las niñas para que ayuden de la manera en que puedan. Gracias".

https://twitter.com/ATPWorldTour/status/1050327022977916928</s>Damaged cars after flooding in Sant Llorenc, the town hardest hit by the downpours Source: AP/PA Images

AT LEAST NINE people have died, including two British nationals, with six others missing after a series of devastating flash floods hit the Spanish holiday island of Mallorca.

Footage broadcast on Spanish television showed cars being swept away by raging, muddy waters, houses flooded and vehicles piled one on top of the other after the Mediterranean island was pounded with heavy rain in just a few hours.

One witness told a local newspaper he had to swim out of his car through a window to safety.

“I swam 500 metres through the torrent until I got to a house,” Manuel Torrescusa told the Diario de Mallorca.

A spokesman for the Spanish central government’s office in the Balearic Islands told AFP nine people had died while six others had been formally identified as missing.

He warned there could be more people missing.

Antonia Bauza, deputy mayor of Sant Llorenc des Cardassar, told Spanish radio that two British nationals were among the dead.

Emergency teams gather on the main road leading to Sant Llorenc Source: AP/PA Images

She added there were also Britons among the missing.

Neither the emergency services, police nor the British foreign office were able to confirm this when contacted by AFP.

“The priority is to identify survivors and rescue people stuck at home,” Bauza said.

Emergency services in the archipelago updated information regularly on Twitter, sending out tweets in Spanish, Catalan, English and German in an indication of the prevalence of tourists and foreign residents on the island.

Spain’s meteorological office said the neighbouring islands of Ibiza and Formentera were now on high alert as the rain and storms moved there.

In Mallorca, the worst affected area lies 60 kilometres east of the capital Palma de Mallorca.

Javier Martinez, another witness, told the Diario de Mallorca he had to leave his flooded home.

Police officers stand next to vehicles destroyed in Sant Llorenc Source: AP/PA Images

“I don’t have anything with me, just the pyjama,” he was quoted as saying.

“My house filled up completely and when it (the water level) dropped we left and went through the mud that the flood left.”

Around 100 extra emergency workers were dispatched from the Spanish mainland, along with two helicopters, eight vehicles and search dogs, the country’s emergency military unit said.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez tweeted his “solidarity and support for the relatives and friends of the victims, and for all those affected by this tragic flooding.”

He is due to fly to the disaster zone later today.

Spanish tennis star Rafael Nadal, who is from the affected area in Mallorca, said on Instagram he was offering to open up his sports centre and tennis academy to people displaced by the floods.

“Our most sincere condolences to the loved ones of the victims of the serious floods in San Llorenc,” he wrote.

Many locals hit by the flooding spent the night in sports centres.

Maria Magdalena Ferrer, spokeswoman for the Manacor Hospital in the affected area, told AFP people “who were in the hospital yesterday and weren’t able to go home” stayed the night.

She added five people had been admitted with injuries, none of them serious.</s>People clean the mud from their houses in Sant Llorenc, the town hardest hit by the downpours located 60 kilometers (40 miles) east of Mallorca's capital, Palma, Spain, on Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2018. At least five people died and five more remained missing on Wednesday after torrential rainstorms caused flash flooding in Spain's Mallorca island, authorities said. (AP Photo/Matias Lopez-Tello) (AP)</s>MADRID (AP) — At least five people were confirmed dead and five more remained missing on Wednesday after torrential rainstorms caused flash flooding on the Spanish island of Mallorca, authorities said. Two of the victims…

MADRID (AP) — At least five people were confirmed dead and five more remained missing on Wednesday after torrential rainstorms caused flash flooding on the Spanish island of Mallorca, authorities said.

Two of the victims were British nationals, said Antonia Bauza, the deputy mayor of Sant Llorenc, the town hardest hit by the downpours, which is about 60 kilometers (40 miles) east of Mallorca’s capital, Palma.

Bauza told Cadena SER radio that two other victims were locals, including an elderly woman whose body was found in the basement of her house.

The fifth victim was in the town of S’illot, an emergency services spokeswoman who was not authorized to be named in media reports told The Associated Press.

Authorities said 80 soldiers and seven vehicles from the military’s emergency unit were dispatched to the area, joining on Wednesday more than 100 rescuers who had been working in the area overnight.

At least three towns have closed schools and hundreds of people are being sheltered in sport facilities and a local hippodrome, authorities said.

The Spanish weather agency reported some 22 centimeters (8 inches) of rainfall in four hours on Tuesday evening in parts of the island. The agency said more heavy rainfall is expected Wednesday in eastern parts of the Iberian peninsula.

The government announced that Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, who called news of the flooding “devastating” in a tweet, would be flying to the area later on Wednesday.

This story has been corrected to fix the spelling of the town of Sant Llorenc.

Copyright © 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.</s>Torrential rainstorms caused flash flooding on the Spanish island of Mallorca, killing at least six people and leaving nine others missing on Wednesday, authorities said.

Two of the victims were British nationals, said Antonia Bauza, the deputy mayor of Sant Llorenc, the town hardest hit by the downpours, which is about 60 kilometers (40 miles) east of Mallorca's capital, Palma.

Bauza told Cadena SER radio that two other victims were local residents, including an elderly woman whose body was found in the basement of her house.

Two more bodies were recovered in the town of S'illot, an emergency services spokeswoman who wasn't authorized to be named in media reports told The Associated Press.

A dry creek overflowed, creating a strong current of water and mud that buried cars and tore trees along the way, witnesses told Spain's TVE.

Public broadcaster TVE showed footage of flooded streets and overturned cars along the guardrails of a major road.

"It all happened in less than 10 minutes," an unidentified witness with wet clothes and a blanket over his shoulders told TVE. "We had to swim to try to survive."

Authorities said 80 soldiers and seven vehicles from the military's emergency unit had joined Wednesday more than 100 rescuers who had been working in the area overnight.

At least three towns closed schools and hundreds of people were sheltered in sport facilities and a local hippodrome, authorities said. The flooding also affected phone communications and forced the closure of at least seven major roads.

Some parts of the island received up to 23 centimeters (nine inches) of rainfall in around four hours on Tuesday evening, national weather authorities reported.

The weather agency, AEMET, said more heavy rainfall is expected Wednesday in eastern and southern parts of the Iberian peninsula.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez called news of the flooding "devastating " on Twitter: "My solidarity and support goes out to the families and friends of victims and all the affected by these tragic floods."

Sanchez will be flying to the area later Wednesday, his office said.</s>At least 5 killed in heavy rains in Spain’s Mallorca (video)

According to reports more than 20 centimeters of rain fell in just four hours

At least five people were killed in flash flooding on the Spanish island of Mallorca late on Tuesday, according to police, and at least nine others were reported missing.

Spain’s National Police confirmed on social media that five people had been killed in the heavy rains in the municipality of Sant Llorenc, and urged people to avoid driving in the Llevant area on the east of the island.

Local media reported that at least another 12 people were still missing following the downpours, but emergency services declined to confirm the figure to Reuters.

According to reports more than 20 centimeters of rain fell in just four hours.

“My solidarity and support goes out to the families and friends of victims and all those affected by these tragic floods,” Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Twitter.</s>At least five people were confirmed dead and five more remained missing on Wednesday after torrential rainstorms caused flash flooding on the Spanish island of Mallorca, authorities said.

Two of the victims were British nationals, said Antonia Bauza, the deputy mayor of Sant Llorenc, the town hardest hit by the downpours, which is about 60 kilometers (40 miles) east of Mallorca's capital, Palma.

Bauza told Cadena SER radio that two other victims were locals, including an elderly woman whose body was found in the basement of her house.

The fifth victim was in the town of S'illot, an emergency services spokeswoman who was not authorized to be named in media reports told The Associated Press.

Authorities said 80 soldiers and seven vehicles from the military's emergency unit were dispatched to the area, joining on Wednesday more than 100 rescuers who had been working in the area overnight.

At least three towns have closed schools and hundreds of people are being sheltered in sport facilities and a local hippodrome, authorities said.

The Spanish weather agency reported some 22 centimeters (8 inches) of rainfall in four hours on Tuesday evening in parts of the island. The agency said more heavy rainfall is expected Wednesday in eastern parts of the Iberian peninsula.

The government announced that Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, who called news of the flooding "devastating" in a tweet, would be flying to the area later on Wednesday.</s>At least 10 people were killed and a child remained missing Wednesday after torrential rains and flash floods ravaged hillside towns located in the east of Spain's Balearic island of Majorca, emergency services said.

Rescue teams continued their efforts to locate a missing five-year-old boy who was traveling in the family car with his mother and eight-year-old sister when it was swept up by rising floodwater.
At least 12 people die in flash flooding on the Spanish island of Mallorca, including nationals of at least 3 countries. A five-year-old child is missing.