The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, has announced the immediate mobilization of another 5,000 soldiers in the areas affected by DANA in the Valencian Community, in addition to another 5,000 police and civil guards who will join the rescue efforts.
This was announced in an appearance from the Moncloa, in which he expressed his “deepest affection” for the victims and assured that the Government and the administrations are with them. “The Government is going to mobilize all possible resources to help,” he said, while confirming 211 total victims in a tragedy that is now “the second flood that has claimed the most victims in Europe so far this century.” .
The Government of Spain is acting on the ground on five clear priorities, Sánchez assured. “The first, save lives. In the last 48 hours we have deployed more than 2,500 military personnel, 1,800 national police and 2,700 civil guards in the province of Valencia who are helping to rescue survivors and restore normality in the streets,” he listed. “These troops are being assisted by the military, digital equipment and satellites, specialized vehicles, helicopters, drones and boats.” It is, the president said, “the largest deployment of members of the Armed Forces that has ever been made in the country in times of peace. “4,800 rescues have been made and more than 30,000 people have been helped.”
However, he has admitted that “the magnitude of the catastrophe makes this aid insufficient, because it is taking time to reach many points.” “That is why I am pleased that President Mazón has decided to increase the request for military personnel from 500 to 5,000. And the Government of Spain will proceed with that shipment. Today 4,000 additional military service personnel will arrive in Valencia and first thing tomorrow morning the remaining thousand. In total, 5,000 more in the next few hours,” he assured. In addition, the Government has ordered the deployment of an amphibious navy ship, equipped with accommodation, operating rooms and support vehicles that will arrive at Valencia airport in the next few hours.
The number of police and civil guards who will be involved in rescue efforts will also be doubled, thus adding a total of 10,000 troops deployed in the affected areas.
Crisis Committee to monitor the effects of DANA
Sánchez makes this statement from La Moncloa, where he has chaired the Crisis Committee from the beginning to monitor the effects of DANA. The Crisis Committee was also attended by the first vice president and Minister of Finance, María Jesús Montero; the second vice president and Minister of Labor and Social Economy, Yolanda Díaz, and the third vice president and Minister for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, Teresa Ribera.
Also the Minister of the Presidency, Justice and Relations with the Cortes, Félix Bolaños; the Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles; the Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, Óscar Puente; the Minister of Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory, Ángel Víctor Torres, and the Minister of Science, Innovation and Universities, Diana Morant.
Sánchez will also visit this Saturday, together with Margarita Robles, the UME Headquarters, at the Torrejón de Ardoz Air Base (Madrid).
The number of fatalities now reaches 207, as reported this Friday night by the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, in an interview on Cadena SER. “The latest update I have is 207 victims,” he said, while he has predicted that, in view of the circumstances and the assessment of experts and technicians, “unfortunately we are going to have more deaths.”
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