Spain floods: Death toll surpasses 150 as more soldiers join rescue efforts

The Spanish government is deploying hundreds more soldiers to distribute essential aid after devastating flash floods killed over 150 in the country’s worst natural disaster in decades.

Torrential rain and hailstorms on Tuesday caused flooding across multiple regions including the hardest-hit eastern province of Valencia, turning streets into rivers that ripped into the ground floors of homes and washed away cars and people.

By Thursday afternoon, regional authorities in Valencia released an updated preliminary death toll, stating it had reached 158 victims.

Another two were found dead in neighbouring Castilla-La Mancha and one in Málaga. Dozens more are still missing, authorities say.

More than 1,200 soldiers from Spain’s emergency rescue units have joined regional and local emergency workers in the search for bodies and survivors. Defence Minister Margarita Robles told the Cadena Ser radio station that the death toll is likely to rise.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez pledged the government's full support to the areas affected by devastating floods, as he visited Valencia on Thursday.

He urged people to remain at home, saying the situation remained unstable.

Sánchez said the priority was finding those who were missing and pledged all necessary resources for as long as it takes to help with both the immediate needs of the affected areas and reconstruction.

He added that he had spoken to European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen who had offered the EU's assistance, and said member states had also stepped up to offer resources.

Spain's transport minister says that dead bodies are in some of the hundreds of stranded vehicles.

King Felipe VI expressed his condolences to the affected families and warned of the