British mum and daughter die in Spanish floods

A British girl saw her mother and sister swept away by floods in Spain and killed, officials said today.

The victims, aged 47 and 14, were crossing a gully on foot in L'Olleria, near Valencia, to get to their house yesterday evening.

The mother was named as Lauren Cullen. She and her daughter had lived in Spain for the past four years, local police said.

The pair were trying to cross the River Clariano to get home but were carried off by the current.

Their bodies were retrieved this morning.

The woman's other daughter and another woman were with them but managed to get out of the river and alert police.

A spokesman for L'Olleria's town hall said: "Everyone in the area is shocked at what happened.

"The dead women, a mother and her daughter, are both British.

"One of the survivors is the mother's other daughter. She was waiting for her mum and sister to cross before she followed."

The British Embassy in Spain said local consular officials were providing assistance to the family.

The Valencia region has experienced heavy rains in recent days.

Rainwater inundated streets, tunnels and garages and blocked roads and railway lines in the Valencia region.

The ports of Valencia, Gandia and Sagunto were closed.

In southern Spain, stormy weather prompted the suspension of ferry links with the Moroccan port of Tangier and Spain's north African enclave of Ceuta.

A firefighter who went to empty a flooded garage sustained burns from equipment and another person was injured by a mudslide in Ceuta.