Spain announces 10.6 billion euro aid package for flood affected areas

Spain has announced a 10.6 billion euro ($11.5bn) aid package to help those affected by flash floods that killed at least 217 people and destroyed businesses and homes last week.

The package includes 838 million euros in cash handouts to small businesses and freelance workers affected by the disaster, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Tuesday.

He said the package also includes 5 billion euros ($5.5bn) of state-guaranteed loans, while the national government will finance 100 percent of the cleanup costs by local councils and half the repair to infrastructure.

He added that Spain has also requested aid from the European Union solidarity fund.

​​”There are still missing persons to be located, homes and businesses destroyed, buried under the mud and many people suffering severe shortages,” Sanchez said in a news conference in Madrid.

“We have to keep working.”

At least 217 people died in Valencia, Castile La Mancha and Andalusia, but only 111 have been identified so far.

Reporting from Chiva, a town in Valencia, media’s Sonia Gallego said as rescue efforts continue “hundreds” of people are still missing with authorities warning that the death toll could increase.

The regional judicial authorities in Valencia said on Tuesday that at least 89 people were missing.