Spain is sending 5,000 more soldiers and 5,000 more police to the eastern region of Valencia after deadly floods this week that killed more than 200 people, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has announced.

So far, 205 bodies have been recovered — 202 in Valencia, two in neighbouring Castilla La Mancha and one in Andalusia, in the south — in Spain’s deadliest natural disaster in living memory.

Two women hold hands after floods in Massanassa, just outside of Valencia
Two women hold hands after floods in Massanassa, just outside of Valencia (Alberto Saiz/AP/PA)

Rescuers were still searching for bodies in stranded cars and sodden buildings on Saturday, four days after the monstrous flash floods that swept away everything in their path in the east of the country.

An unknown number of people remain missing.

Thousands of volunteers are helping to clean up the thick mud that is covering everything in streets, houses and businesses in the hardest-hit towns.

At present, there are some 2,000 soldiers involved in the emergency work, as well as almost 2,500 Civil Guard gendarmes — who have carried out 4,500 rescues during the floods — and 1,800 national police officers.