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Five dead, three missing after storms damage Madrid and Toledo

A search and rescue is under way to find three people missing after a deadly storm triggered heavy flooding in Madrid and Toledo killing at least five, officials say.

In the province of Toledo, south of Madrid, the bodies of three men were recovered on Monday, the government of the Castilla-La Mancha region said.

One of the victims died inside a vehicle and another was found dead in a garage lift.

The body of a 50-year-old was recovered from a stream.

Over the weekend, two men aged 31 and 34 died after drowning in raging water while trying to climb a gorge in north-eastern Spain.

Meanwhile, a search was continuing for a man who was travelling with his wife and two children in the Madrid region on Sunday evening.

Their vehicle was swept away by the waters of the Alberche River, which had burst its banks.

The wife and daughter were able to save themselves while 10-year-old son was able to take refuge in a tree and was found there after several hours.

Besides the father, at least two further people were still missing on Monday.

Over the weekend Spain was hit by storms with raging winds, heavy rain, lightning and hail.

Flights were delayed and railway traffic was suspended, leaving hundreds of passengers stranded at train stations in Madrid, Malaga and other cities.

Many roadways, streets and parks were closed, while countless houses and garages were flooded with water and mud.

Parts of facades and roof tiles fell onto the streets and trees were uprooted.

In Catalan municipality of Alcanar, a total of 215mm of rain was recorded on Sunday, according to the meteorological office, with the roughly 10,000 residents banned from leaving their homes for several hours due to dangerous flooding.

In Madrid, underground rail services and road traffic were still impacted by the storm’s aftermath.

Railway infrastructure manager Adif said high-speed rail traffic between Madrid and the southern region of Andalusia had resumed after overnight repairs to damage caused by the storm.

The train connection between Madrid and Toledo remained closed.

Emergency services in the Madrid region have so far dealt with 2157 incidents and firefighters have conducted 1390 operations.

Madrid and Castilla-La Mancha are set to ask the Spanish government to declare a disaster area in the affected municipalities.

-with EFE and Reuters

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