Berlin, 2 November 2024 (dpa/MIA) - Around 100,000 volunteer clean-up workers are being shuttled from the Spanish city of Valencia to devastated villages hit by deadly flash floods last week, according to the Europapress news agency.

At least 211 people were killed in Tuesday's storms and floods, most of them in the Valencia region, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said on Saturday after a meeting about response to the disaster.

Spanish Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said earlier on Saturday that he expects the number to continue rising as rescue teams continue to conduct searches in the hardest-hit areas.

There are fears that many more people will be found dead in cars swept away by the torrential rains that flooded towns and caused rivers to burst their banks earlier this week.

The first volunteer workers left Valencia on Saturday morning in buses and will return in the afternoon, after which further groups will be taken to the flooded areas, according to Europapress.

The Valencia regional government had set up a volunteer coordination centre on Friday to oversee the efforts.

Officials, however, urged volunteers not to drive into the affected areas in their own cars in order to avoid blocking roads for rescue workers.

Tight restrictions on driving throughout the region to keep roads clear for emergency vehicles remain in effect until Sunday.

Meanwhile, another 5,000 soldiers are being deployed to the affected areas this weekend to reinforce the 2,000 troops already there, according to broadcaster RTVE. Another 5,000 local police officers and members of the Guardia Civil national gendarmerie are also being deployed.

Sánchez said the additional 10,000 police and soldiers would help speed recovery and clean-up work in the disaster zone.

Many villages are covered in mud, with cars, furniture and other household items still piled on top of each other in the streets.

According to the authorities, most of the power supply has now been restored.

Photo: EPA