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A Colombian woman is among the four people who died in Spain due to the storm Filomena, that left snowfalls with an intensity that had not been experienced for half a century.
The woman was on Friday night in a car with her partner, a 46-year-old Spaniard, and with an Argentine couple in Mijas, Málaga, in the south of the country. They were returning from a religious service in an evangelical church when the vehicle was trapped by the river Fuengirola, in the area known as Esparragal.
The Colombian and her partner could not immediately get out of the car in which they were circulating. The Argentines were luckier: the man was saved, but the woman she was carried away by the current for two and a half hours, until she was rescued.
See here the shocking images left by the snowfall
At around four in the morning on Saturday, the teams of the Special Group of Underwater Activities of the Civil Guard they got access to the car. They only found the body of the 56-year-old Colombian woman.
His partner, a 46-year-old Spaniard, had been able to leave and those present had tried to help him by throwing a rope with a float, but had not been successful. They found the body about 300 meters from the scene hours later, around 10 a.m. on Saturday.
The occupants of the car had stopped to look at the river bed when the water suddenly rose and the current swept the vehicle away.
One of the witnesses, a Colombian neighbor in the area, told the local press that they had heard screams on Friday night and had come to help, but that the work was very difficult due to the heavy rains and the darkness. They notified the emergency service, which activated the operation to rescue them.
Some trees fell due to the weight of the snow on them.
The authorities pronounce
Juanma Moreno, the president of the Junta de Andalucía, the region where the events took place, announced what happened through his Twitter account. “One person has died and another is still missing in Fuengirola due to the floods caused by #BorrascaFilomena. My deep condolences to the victim’s family ”. Shortly after he added: “Unfortunately, the person who was missing has been located. All the affection of the Andalusians for their family in such a difficult moment (…) ”. Moreno insisted on the need to maintain prudence and caution.
The counselor of the presidency and spokesman for the Andalusian government traveled to the area and also offered his condolences to the families. “There is no possible consolation when the loss of a family member occurs, especially in these circumstances,” said Elías Bendodo. “The storm has shown its worst face in its passage through Malaga,” he added.
Read here more details of the historic snowfall
In fact, on Saturday alone, more than thirty rescues of people trapped in vehicles by the storm were carried out in the area. The Junta de Andalucía announced on Saturday that it had received 327 incidents on the emergency phone.
Image of Paseo de la Castellana. The streets became impassable for cars.
Victims of Filomena
The storm Filomena It has left up to four fatalities in its icy, stormy and snowy passage through the Spanish peninsula.
In addition to the Colombian woman and her partner, a homeless man died in Calatayud (Zaragoza) and a man who was found covered in snow on a street in Zarzalejo.
On the other hand, four Colombians and a Hindu were treated by the Civil Guard in the port of Navacerrada, in the vicinity of Madrid, for hypothermia on Wednesday.
The young people did not have the appropriate clothing or equipment to face the low temperatures. They had been lost and their phones had run out of battery.
View of the Puerta de Alcalá, one of the emblematic sites of the Spanish capital.
Cold wave
Although the snow left Madrid, it continues through the north of the country. There is also a cold wave, which will lower the thermometers to sub-zero numbers that will be historical in Spanish meteorology. In Madrid, for example, it will exceed ten degrees centigrade below zero, when it rarely marks more than -2.
Now the authorities recommend prudence, while the cities recover normality and the roads and the Barajas airport are expected to operate normally again.
JUANITA SAMPER OSPINA
CORRESPONDENT OF THE TIME
MADRID SPAIN)
