Firefighters from Malaga clear flooded tunnel in Valencia in which there were around 30 vehicles with victims inside

It is a desperate situation. The fourteen firefighters from the CPB Malaga provincial brigade sent as volunteers to Valencia to help with the rescue work after the devastating flooding have been working throughout the night on tasks to decongest the main artery that crosses Alfafar and Benetússer districts. They managed to drain the water in a tunnel that had reached a height of seven metres. Inside the tunnel they found more than thirty vehicles with victims. For now it has not been revealed how many of the dead have been recovered.

Salvador Olivas, one of the members of the contingent, explained that despite the fact that this is the worst disaster they have ever experienced, they are maintaining their energy "at 300%". "I have attended several disasters, such as the earthquake in Lorca and the volcano in La Palma, but this is the worst I have seen and I think I will see in my life," said the commander in charge of the contingent, Salvador Olivas, speaking to SUR. "This looks like a war scene", he said. The lifeless bodies, as he explained, continue to appear in vehicles, homes and establishments: "Everyone is in shock, dismayed".

The firefighters departed from the Antequera and Estepona fire stations at around 11pm on Wednesday and, for now, have no return date. They were joined on Friday by three more professionals from the CPB, and another two from Torremolinos. In principle they will be in the Valencia region until Monday morning, although their return may be postponed, depending on how the situation develops over the next few days. "The emergency services here are overwhelmed, both those on the ground and those coming from outside," said Olivas.

Despite the consternation, the firefighters sent to Valencia, above all, arrived with a great desire to help. And even more so, with the knowledge that "there are people who have lost everything". So much so that, as the officer said, they decided not to stop the work on their first night. "It takes months of work and, in the time we are here, we are not going to stop to sleep unless we are totally exhausted; seeing this scene, we feel obliged to give 200 per cent of ourselves," he commented.

To do this, the contingent has taken with them two heavy rural pump type vehicles, three light vehicles and a command unit, but also some of most advanced technological means available to the CPBfor the search and rescue of victims, which can be key to finding both injured and deceased people. "We have brought three drones, one with a thermal camera that can help locate people by measuring their temperature, and two others that are smaller but very useful, for example, to take them into a building and see what state they are in or if there is anyone there," said Olivas. In the next few hours, two pick-up vehicles and a high-flow pump (4,800 litres per minute) will also be added, which will make it easer to work in flooded garages.

Specialised listening equipment used to search for people in collapsed structures has also been brought in. "It is the very latest technology and can detect very low frequency sounds," he said. In this sense, the firefighter was pleased that the CPB had not skimped when it came to making its most advanced resources available to help in Valencia, where it is vital. "We are the human part, but without this equipment it would be impossible to work at the rate we are doing," he said.

Along with Olivas, firefighters Juan Luis Moreno, Rafa Salas, Alex Córdoba, Antonio Villa, Javi López, Germinal Fernández, Juan Antonio Cisneros, Rafael Heredia, Juan Luis de la Cerda, David Pavón, Antonio Clavero, Jair Pereira and Juan Antonio Blanco have travelled from Málaga to Valencia.

They are not the only ones who volunteered. A total of 38 personnel expressed their intention to join the contingent to alleviate as far as possible the disaster caused by the 'Dana' storm. They are a sign of the solidarity of the brigade, which always comes to the fore in the worst disasters.