Alex Trelinski
THE Valencia flood disaster death toll has risen to 227 after courts declared two missing people as dead.
Two decrees have been issued in regard to two men, Francisco Ruiz Martinez from Montserrat and Jose Javier Vicent Fas from Pedralba.
The one officially still-missing person is Elizabeth Gil from Cheste, with a Requena court still processing an application from her relatives.
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The law says that families of missing people can claim a death declaration once three months have passed since the October 29 tragedy.
Francisco Ruiz Martinez, 64, was dragged by the water in a supermarket car park on the Monserrat industrial estate.
He disappeared after managing to get his two grandchildren to safety by putting them on the roof of his car.
Jose Javier Vicent Fas, 56, vanished after his Pedralba home collapsed.
Mother-of-two Elizabeth Gil, 38, was driving to work with her mother when they got caught up in a flood tide close to the Hotel La Carreta de Chiva.
The Guardia Civil have continued searching for the trio across different areas of Valencia province.
That included deploying heavy machinery to clear reeds along the Magro River to where it joins the Jucar River.
The Government delegate in the Valencian Community, Pilar Bernabe, said: “I know that it is very hard for those families who need to be able to bury their relatives.”
“Hopefully we can find them as soon as possible and I also want to convey to them, that they know, that we are not going to stop looking for them,” she added.
