A vast cemetery of water and mud has turned the lives of many people upside down as they tried to get their cars back in the mall parking lot, trying to escape the devastating wave of the tsunami that turned Aldaya into a swamp on Tuesday night. The signs at the entrance to the parking lot read ‘Welcome to Bonaire’, the largest in the city, but only four days after the calamity did the military of the Army Emergency Unit (UME) manage to intervene, after draining for a whole day the four cubic meters of water that had submerged the entire underground parking lot, capable of holding 1,800 vehicles, while the mall has a total of 5,700.

It is not yet clear how many people were trapped; Ume divers had to wait for the mud to be removed before carrying out the rescue operations. Some of them described a terrifying scene below. Storm Dana hit the Spanish Levante during the evening rush hour, when many families were out shopping or dining in restaurants. Today, the scene is nightmarish, with mannequins in shops reduced to macabre black shapes and shoes scattered in the mud along with the remains of pizza plates. It is estimated that there were about 650 people in the mall at the time of impact, not including those who worked there.

Ume technicians had to remove journalists from the access to the underground car park, where there are fears of heartbreaking scenes. The Emergency Coordination Centre of the Generalitat Valenciana has received around 1,900 reports of missing persons; by Thursday, 600 people had been found by their loved ones. However, despite the rescue of a woman who had been trapped for more than three days, the death toll continues to be counted.

In Paiporta, the number of victims has risen to 72 out of a total of 211 recovered so far. José Antonio Redondo, Councilor for Labor and Trade, reports that there are still inaccessible roads due to vehicles piled up in the mud. Many volunteers have mobilized to clean the area wearing masks to combat the bad smell and stench of waste that has not been removed for days. The situation is becoming critical from a public health perspective and residents complain about the lack of essential services such as drinking water and health care.

The community applauds the arrival of the armed forces, who have appeared in the country for the first time with specialized vehicles to remove the stranded cars. Centers have been set up in local schools to distribute food and necessary goods to those affected by the tragedy. Two mortuary vans pass by carrying the latest victims to the Valencia medical-legal center for autopsies.